The Adventures to Come
by thomthom830
Summary: This is another sequel to At World's End featuring Captain Jack and Dani. But with a twist: it's 15 years later and their children are old enough to want some adventure. And I still don't own Pirates, but I really wish I did.
1. Getting Reaquainted and Finding It

A/N: Welcome back everyone. I know I said I was going to take some time off from Pirates, but I couldn't resist when this story came to me. Please read and review. Let me know if you like the story line and if I should continue.

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter One

It had been fifteen not-so-long years since Captain Jack Sparrow had returned to Port Royal with his family, Will and his family, and the crew. Somewhere in Jack's mind he wanted to settle down and find a respectable job, but somewhere down the road to self-discovery, he gave up and got lazy. Well, he got even more lazy than he already was.

And it wasn't to say that he didn't do anything all day long. Because in fact, he had become somewhat "domesticated" and helped out a lot around the house.

He also made short runs to surrounding islands when he got itchy and had to sail. Essentially, Jack realized that he was going to live forever, so taking a few years off to raise his children in a relatively stable environment wasn't that bad of an option.

That's right; he'd talked Danielle into a second child. Jack Sparrow had finally gotten the son he so very wanted. He'd come into their world about a year after they made port and they decided to name him Andrew.

Dani and Jack had made a pretty normal life for themselves and their children. They had even started a school for both girls and boys in Port Royal so they would all get an education. And despite their children not wanting to go, they did, on the threat of a most painful death if they didn't. (Thanks to Jack.)

Will had gone back to working in the blacksmith shop, with his son as his apprentice. His daughter, picking up some of the tomboyish-ness of his wife and Dani, also worked one day a week helping him out.

Elizabeth had put her foot down and said no more children. Actually, she had put her foot through the wall when she and Will were having the conversation about more children. That had been a costly repair and Will knew she was very, _very _serious. But up until that point and almost every strange situation after that, Elizabeth had started to loosen up. She was _always_ going to be strict about her twin children, but she was trying to let them start to lead semi-independent lives.

And on this particular day, fifteen years later, Jack (Will's son) was cleaning up the blacksmith shop while his father had gone out to run some errands for his wife.

He was almost done when the bottom fell out of the wooden crate he was moving for his father.

Jack, completely bored out his mind, disinterestedly started cleaning up the papers. Most were just sappy love letters from his mother to his dad, anyway. And he didn't want to know anything about _that_. Jack, who was the spitting image of his father, yawned as he put the papers back in the box.

But his eyes grew wide at the sight of some very old parchment that had fallen out of the stack.

He moved the box out of his lap and bent forward to pick up the old paper. Jack carefully unfolded it and looked. It was just what he needed: a treasure map!

But he heard his father's boots outside the door and he quickly shoved the parchment into his shirt.

As Will walked in, Jack shoved the rest of the papers back into the crate and stood up to greet him.

"Get all of mom's errands done, dad?"

"Yes, son. Did you finish cleaning up?"

"Yup, can I go now?"

"Sure, where are you going?"

"To find Marie and Rosemary," he answered as he walked out the door.

"Be home for supper!" Will called out the door to his son's back.

Will wondered what had gotten into his son. Jack usually stayed around to help him so they could walk home together, but today something was different. But Will shrugged and just assumed it was because of a girl, because that's what it has been lately.

Dani was busy with a dress fitting for Marie and Rosemary when Jack knocked on the door. Marie, being his sister, had a mini-panic attack and shooed him away. Rosemary, who appeared to have somewhat of a crush on Jack, decided to flaunt her figure in the new dress, hoping to catch his eye. That was until her mother slapped her shoulder.

"Jack, go wait in the kitchen, they'll be done in a minute or so," Dani smiled. "Help yourself to a cookie."

He smiled and excused himself from the room.

"Rosemary Elizabeth Sparrow," Dani scolded. "You are sixteen years old; you do not need to be…"

"What, mother?"

"Hold on, I'm thinking… you do not need to be showing the whole world what's underneath the dress, let alone that seventeen year old boy."

"Especially since he's my brother," Marie laughed. "I don't understand how you could even…ew…" she sighed. "I can't even say it out loud."

"Go upstairs and change," Dani told them. "I'll finish the fitting another time."

Marie started up the stairs, but Rosemary stayed behind.

"Mom," she started.

"Yes, dear?"

"How come you never get any older?"

"What do you mean?" Dani asked.

"You _never_ get any older, _ever_. Why is that?"

"I'll tell you when you're older. Now go upstairs and change."

"And mom?"

"Yes?"

"I think we should have a talk about something."

"What's that?"

"A talk about boys and girls. Can we do that later?"

There was stunned silence from Dani. Dani was trying to ignore this whole thing. She figured she'd explain it to her on her wedding night. (They were trying to leave out the fact that Dani was not a virgin when she married Jack.)

"Mom?" her daughter asked.

"Sure, sure," she said, waving her daughter off.

"Are you ever going to be done being girly?" Jack (Turner) called from the kitchen. "And pardon the yelling, Mrs. Sparrow."

"Jack Turner, call me Mrs. Sparrow again and you'll be hanging by your ankles from the nearest tree!" she called back.

Rosemary darted up the stairs to change and came down a few minutes later with her best friend at her elbow.

"What was _so_ important, Jack?" Marie asked.

He stood up and suspiciously looked out the kitchen door, then crept back into the room.

"I found this," he said, pulling out the map.

"Where in the bloody hell did you find that?" Rosemary asked in her father's tone.

"In dad's shop. It was in a box under a bunch of their sappy love letters," he said.

"Is it real?" Marie asked.

"Why would dad have it if it isn't real?" Jack asked back.

"Where would dad get a treasure map?"

"Because he's a pirate," Jack said in a matter-of-fact tone. "We need to go find this."

"_Was_ a pirate. Our parents won't _ever_ go for this," Marie laughed.

"We just need to convince _your_ dad, not ours," Jack smiled and looked to Rosemary.

"No, my mother has made it perfectly clear that there will be no more treasure hunts. She says we have all the treasure we need right here," Rosemary argued.

"Do you really believe that?"

"No, but it's easier than trying to argue with her. Have you ever heard her and my father go on about something? Bloody awful."

"Well, we don't need to tell her, just your dad. Your dad could tell her."

"That'll be easier said than done," Rosemary sighed.


	2. Convincing Jack

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 2

Danielle wondered why her daughter was acting strangely. In fact, Rosemary was acting like her father when he wasn't going to tell the truth. She was fidgeting and not making eye contact with her mother. So when Rosemary opened her mouth to speak, Dani braced herself for a lie.

"Mother," she started. "Mrs. Turner wanted to see you over at her house."

Dani was unimpressed. It was an awful lie. But she did wonder why Rosemary wanted her out of the house.

"If she wanted a word with me, couldn't she have come here?" she asked.

"You know Mrs. Turner, mother…" she said sweetly. And Dani knew that her daughter was lying through her teeth. If Elizabeth had truly wanted to speak to her, she would have walked herself over.

"Who told you to tell me?"

"Well, Mrs. Turner told Mr. Turner, who told Jack to tell Marie to tell me."

"That is an awful lot of work for a simple message. I wonder why she didn't just stop by," Dani wondered out loud. She would fake belief to humor her daughter. "Look after your father for me, he's itchy to sail again."

"Sure, mother," she smiled. Rosemary couldn't ask for better timing.

Danielle knew that her daughter was watching her walk away. So when she got far enough away, instead of continuing over to the Turner's home, she turned and snuck back to the house.

Rosemary had waited to watch her mother walk away. She couldn't have her mother know about this right now. So when she was sure the coast was clear, she found her father napping on the balcony in the sunlight.

"Daddy…?" she said in a soft voice.

"You only call me 'daddy' when you want something, love," he said from under his hat.

"Of course not, daddy. I don't want anything. But I'll bet you want to see what I have," she said, rattling the parchment so her father could hear it.

Jack sat up immediately, his heart pounding. She had a map.

Before Rosemary could react, Jack had the map in his possession.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, transfixed.

"Jack found it, in Mr. Turner's shop."

"So _that's_ where she hid it."

"Who hid it?" Rosemary asked.

"What? No one hid it."

"But you just…"

"I know what I just said and it was a slip of the tongue or is it a figure of speech? Anyway, it's a fake."

He saw the disappointment in his daughter's face. Jack hated lying to her, but the four of them decided to not tell the kids about their questionable pasts. The kids knew some of the stories, but none of Davy Jones, Beckett or Singapore. And they had also decided no treasure hunts.

Rosemary stared at her father. _The_ Captain Jack Sparrow said it was a fake so it had to be true. But she wondered why his mood changed so much and so quickly.

"I suggest you tell that young sir of yours to put it back where he found it. It could be of some sentimental value to William, probably something Elizabeth drew up."

"But…"

"When are you two going to get married anyway?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I don't' know what you're talking about. He's…we…he's not my…"

"Oh, fine. But lying to yourself will get you nowhere. I know from personal experience. The Kraken'll find you anyway."

"What? _The Kraken_? What do you know of the Kraken?" his daughter asked quickly.

"Nothing. I didn't say anything about the Kraken. Perhaps your mother should take you to see the doctor. Now run along. Don't you have chores to do or a dress to put on?"

"Sure, father," she answered and headed back towards the interior of the house.

Dani climbed up the ladder that led to the balcony. Jack had built it for ease of escape for himself, but it was working for entry back into the house for Dani just as well.

"What did our dear daughter want?"

"Huh?" he asked, getting very nervous. He was still somewhat scared of his wife and she was looking twice as menacing currently.

"She didn't want anything, love," he said.

"You're lying, Jack Sparrow, like you always do. Tell me the truth," she demanded.

"She and her friends found the map you hid ages ago."

"In the cellar?" she asked.

"No…in Will's shop. Wait, you hid a map in our cellar?" He asked, standing up.

"No, of course not," she said, getting nervous herself.

"But I told her to put it back because it's a fake. No worries, love," he patted her hand. He was thoughtful and silent for a moment. "Maybe we should search for that treasure. I saw it myself, we've never been there."

"No, Jack. No more treasure hunts. The children…"

"It's always 'the children'. Can't we go? They can stay with Lizzie and Will. Please?"

"No."

"Please, I promise great rewards if you agree…" he said kissing her wrist. He moved to her forearm and then up to her shoulder. He only stopped when he reached her ear.

"If we can get the map, maybe. I'm not making any promises. And William and Elizabeth must agree to watch the children. Jack, I don't think this is such a good idea."

"Oh, come one. Think about the fun we'd have. Just like old times. Sailing together, making love in the crow's nest under the moonlight…"

"We've never done that," she told him.

"Sounds wonderful, though. Doesn't it?"

"We'll talk about this later," Dani replied.

At the same time, Rosemary was knocking on the Turner's door and Elizabeth answered.

"Hello, Rosemary," she said, inviting the girl in. "The twins are upstairs."

"Is my mother here?" Rosemary asked.

"Why would your mother be here?"

"Oh, no reason…" she said. "I'll just show myself to their room."

"Okay," Elizabeth smiled in her wake.

Upstairs the three started to discuss their options.

"My dad said it was a fake," Rosemary told them.

"Your dad lies," Jack laughed.

"You were named after him," Marie pointed out.

"So?"

"I think we should put it back and forget it," Rosemary said.

"_I _think we should put a fake back and try to go find it anyway," Marie told them.

"We'll be in so much trouble, and what if Andrew finds out? He'll want to tell our parents and then we'll be so much trouble."

"Come on, live a little. I'll put the map in my drawer and we'll deal with this later."

Elizabeth, who had been casually spying on her children down the hall, panicked and ran into the closest available room.

The children filed out and barely missed Elizabeth shutting herself in a linen closet. They grabbed some paper from the kitchen and they headed out to find a place where no one would see them. They were going to find somewhere where they could create a fake map and hide it for their parents to find.

A/N: Okay, here is another update. I hope people are liking this. Please review!


	3. Formulating a Plan

Chapter 3

Elizabeth, in Elizabeth-style, was stressed out. The idea of her children with a treasure map scared her to death.

She scrambled out of the closet she was in and ran straight out of the house to Will's shop.

"The children found the map."

"What?" he shouted back at her.

"Our children found the map that we had hidden in your shop. And I think they want to go find it. We can't let them," she sighed.

"Of course we won't let them," he patted her hand.

"But…"

"We'll just have to take some extra precautions."

"Jack and Marie are henceforth disallowed to visit with and/or see Rosemary, Andrew or Jack Sparrow," she shouted.

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Will asked.

"No, once again, Jack is ruining things."

"I don't think this could be blamed on Jack. I mean, obviously they found the map in _my_ shop," Will smiled. "So we'll just take the map back and forbid them from going to find it. They are only sixteen and seventeen years old. There is no way they could crew a ship anyway."

"Never underestimate the intelligence or the tenacity of our children. I think they're stronger than we ever thought them to be," she said sadly.

"Go home and rest, maybe have some tea. When I get home, we'll have a discussion with the children. It'll be fine, darling, I promise," Will said, kissing her on the forehead.

"All right, if you say so," she said and left the shop.

Back home, she was a nervous wreck. Elizabeth couldn't bear to think of her children sailing away, looking for treasure.

And when Will got home and the four of them sat down to dinner, Elizabeth wasted no time getting down to the map business.

"I want the map you found, Jack," she said quickly.

"What map, mom?"

"Just give your mother the map," Will said, wanting this whole thing to be over.

"You could back me up a little better, William Turner," she said angrily. "Give me the map."

"Fine," the boy answered his mother and fished a wrinkled piece of parchment from the inside pocket of his coat. "Here."

"Thank you," she said. "There will be no more discussion of treasure or pirates, all right?"

"Yes, mother," her children answered her.

"And you are forbidden to see Rosemary and Jack (Sparrow) until I say it's all right."

The children were less than pleased with this demand.

"Mother," Marie started. "That's not fair."

"I'm your mother; I don't have to be fair. No more of the Sparrow family until I say so," she finished.

Will watched his wife with amusement. Like her word was really going to stop his children from seeing their best friend.

And then he turned his attention to his children, who were silently eating their supper. They looked as though they were signaling each other. He knew something was up and couldn't help but smile at them, too. He loved the way his family turned out.

What his children were murmuring to each other was that they would sneak out later.

It was midnight when they actually heard their parents go to bed. They snuck out as quietly as they could and went straight to Rosemary's window and knocked lightly.

She yawned at them and tried to shoo them away.

But they wouldn't budge.

So she sneaked out her window as well.

"Our mother made us hand over the map," Jack sighed.

"Good, I'm glad," Rosemary snapped back, she was tired and acted very much like her mother in these situations.

"But…"

"But what?" she asked back.

"We gave her the fake, not the real one," Jack told her.

"The real one what?" another male voice asked.

Rosemary craned her neck and looked into the darkness.

It was her little brother.

"What are you doing here?" Rosemary asked. She was beyond angry and it showed on her face.

"I heard someone knocking and I went to investigate and your window was open. I looked out and there you were, hurrying down the street. So I followed. I figure it had to be something worth seeing if you were sneaking out," he answered.

"Well, its nothing."

"It must be something," Andrew answered back.

"We should just tell him," Marie whispered loudly.

"Yes, you should just tell me," he said.

"If you tell anyone about this, we'll hang you by your toenails from a tree."

Andrew looked slightly upset at the statement, but nodded anyway.

"We found a map and we're planning on going to find the treasure indicated on it," Jack explained. "But our parents don't want us to do it. But we're going anyway."

"You're going to find buried treasure?! Can I go, too?" Andrew asked excitedly.

"No," Rosemary answered quickly.

"Wait, Rosemary, I think we could let him go," Jack said. "We could use _all_ the help we could get to load the ship quickly. The more hands, the better," he finished.

He looked like he was being serious, but Marie and Rosemary were close enough to hear the sarcasm in his voice. They weren't _really_ going to let Andrew go with them. He'd be even more of liability than if they went alone.

"We'll talk about this later," Rosemary sighed. "We need to get home before father does one of his random bed checks."

So they parted ways and went home. Andrew and Rosemary climbed back into the house through the window and back into their respective rooms. Rosemary could hear her father snoring loudly and smiled to herself, obviously he wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon.

A/N: Okay, that was chapter three. I hope I get some more reviews. I _really _want more than one review. Please, please, please?


	4. Sneaking Away

Chapter Four

The children had wanted to leave port at night, but realized in another late-night meeting that they had never sailed a ship before in the daylight, let alone in the darkness. They decided that they were going to have to steal a ship in daylight, which was going to be somewhat of a larger problem. But they were up for a challenge.

They said good-bye to their parents, like they did every morning, and pretended they were going to school.

But, according to plan, they headed to the docks. They had secretly hidden supplies in crates there and it would be somewhat easier to commandeer one of the many ships of Lord Norrington's fleet. (They had realized early into the planning, that it would be impossible to take _The Adventurer_ because their father checked on it each day.)

The rushed as fast as they could to not be seen loading the ship they had chosen.

Unfortunately, someone did see them. Charlie Norrington came strolling up.

"What's going on here?" he asked in an official voice.

"Um…" Rosemary stalled. "Nothing?"

"It doesn't look like 'nothing'. It looks like you're stealing one of my father's ships," he answered.

"Commandeering, not stealing. Nautical terms, mate," Jack smiled.

"Stealing, none-the-less," Charlie told them. "I'm going to have to report you."

"We are going to search for treasure, you can come," Marie smiled.

"What are you doing?" Jack whispered to his sister.

"I've got it, don't worry," she whispered back.

"Can I really go?"

"Of course, we wouldn't be able to sail without your knowledge of the sea. Go grab your things quickly and we'll set off. We'll even send Andy to go with you. He'll be our good faith gesture. And don't tell anyone, savvy?" she smiled.

"Well, I suppose you wouldn't leave him behind," Charlie pointed at Andy. "Yes, I'll be right back," he said.

Andy jumped down from the ship and the two boys rushed away.

"Great, look what you've done," Rosemary sighed.

"Flattery always works, especially with a boy like Charlie Norrington. We won't have either of them with us if we leave now. Let's go," Marie answered them.

Jack smiled at the two girls. His sister was definitely smarter than he gave her credit for.

The three worked very hard and were able to get the ship out into the harbor.

By the time the two boys returned, the ship was too far out to have been a mistake on the part of the other three children.

Charlie was angry and depressed. He couldn't even look at the boy standing next to him. Instead of saying anything, because Andy looked just as upset, Charlie started to walk away.

He wasn't going to tell anyone because he was embarrassed. Charlie was always letting himself be persuaded by the opposite sex. And what hurt more was that it was Marie that did it. He _used_ to have a crush on her.

He seemed to be as unlucky in love as his father had been early in his life.

He started to contemplate his options. He decided because he was miserable, he wanted everyone on that ship, sooner rather than later, to be just as miserable.

Charlie was going to tell on them anyway, no matter how embarrassed he was going to be in the end. He headed for the fort.

He knocked on his father's office door and let himself in when he heard his father mumble something through the door.

James Norrington was finishing his breakfast. His son had caught him mid-chew and manners aside, he had called for his son to enter with a mouth full of food.

"Aren't you supposed to be at school, son?" James asked, wiping the corners of his mouth with a napkin.

"We were on a break and I was taking a walk over by the docks and the Turner and Sparrow children were stealing one of your ships. And I am sad to say, I was misled into being able to go with them, and had left to pack. When I returned, the ship was gone."

"They took one of my ships?"

"Yes, father."

"I've got to go, son. Go home and I'll speak to you about this later."

James practically ran from the office, leaving his son alone once again.

James ran straight for his ships.

"Somebody give me an inventory of the ships that are supposed to be in harbor right now!" he shouted at several soldiers.

Someone came running very quickly and handed him a large leather-bound book.

"We are missing the _HMS Edwards_. Where is it?"

His crew of men looked confused. No one had been there to see it leave.

"Maybe it was stolen?"

James wanted to smack the man.

"Obviously," was his only answer. "Someone go find Will Turner," he answered leaning on a dock post.

Andrew walked back to his home. He'd have to tell his mother. She'd want to know why he wasn't that school. She'd be furious when he told her. Andy wished he could be more like his parents, or his sister for that matter. He wasn't particularly brave, like his father, or smart like his mother. He was just very average and even more shy.

And he was very right about his mother being angry with him not being at school.

"Why are you not at school learning things?" she asked, totally surprised to see her son. She tossed something that looked a lot like a compass back into her yarn basket.

"I…don't want to talk about it," Andy answered.

"But you are going to talk about it, so go," Dani smiled.

"All right. Please don't get mad," he said.

"That is never a good way to start a conversation."

"Rosemary, Jack and Marie left to go find treasure."

Dani was expecting her son to tell her that he was kicked out of school for a day or so. So she was completely floored when her son told her what he did.

"What?" she asked, still in shock.

"They left about an hour ago."

"Where did they go?"

"To wherever that map said," Andrew answered.

"Elizabeth took the map…" she thought out loud. "I have to go find your father. Stay here!" she shouted at the boy, making him look very frightened. She slammed the door behind her and started to run towards the tavern.

Jack had been drinking in Pintel and Ragetti's tavern for some time now. It was late afternoon and that was Jack's second favorite time to do his drinking.

Dani slammed open the door to the tavern and marched straight up to her husband.

Jack was leaning back in his chair, feet on the table, telling stories. He had a tankard of rum in his hand resting it on his stomach and several more empty ones on the table.

Dani walked up in time to hear him finish his story.

"And that's how I won the popular vote in the election. But they denied me the presidency. Some sort of legal matter. Something about voter coercion at sword point; I said 'whatever'. But I think it's because they didn't like my hat."

"It _is_ a nice hat," Ragetti added.

"Jack!" Dani shouted at him.

Jack was just drunk enough to fall out of his chair at the sound of his wife shrieking.

"Love, what have I told you about yelling like that when I'm drinking?"

"Our Rosemary sailed away with Marie and Jack in search of treasure."

"Please repeat that, love. It sounded like you said our children sailed away," he said as he stood and straightened his hat.

"I _did_ say that. Come on, we've got to go!" she said, pulling on his arm. "Let's go!"

"Are we going as well, ma'am?" Pintel asked, in a shy sort of way.

"We're going to need a crew for the blasted ship, aren't we? Get a move on! I'll leave it up to you two to locate the rest of the crew as well. Can you handle that?"

"Yes, of course," Ragetti answered as he cleaned his eye on his sleeve.

Jack blinked in the harsh sunlight that his eyes weren't used to. And he was instantly snapped into sobriety.

"I am torn between being proud and outraged with our children," he said as they walked toward their home.

"I can't believe they sailed off, without any training or experience. This is so irresponsible."

"You did it," Jack told her.

"I was in an abusive marriage. I did what I had to do. Our children _did not_ need to do this."

"I know, darling."

They reached their home and looked at Andy who was sitting very still in the sitting room.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked.

"Mom said stay here," Andy said.

"Come with me, boy," Jack said, shaking his head in disgust.

Jack led his son upstairs to his bedroom.

"It's high time you know a little more about your parents," Jack said, opening the trunk and revealing his sword, pistol and compass.

A/N: Okay, that was totally chapter four. Please review. So far I'm getting very positive feedback and that's what I wanted. Thanks so much! I'll update in a couple days; work is going to be a little hectic, but I'll update when I can.


	5. Who's in Charge?

Chapter 5

The three teens had only been sailing for an hour or so when the girls had returned to the deck giggling. Rosemary and Marie had claimed a cabin for themselves. But what they learned quickly was that they would hardly use it.

They weren't a full day into their trip when they all learned the harsh reality of sailing: there needed to be at least ten more people with them to have this ship work properly.

"This," Rosemary said, late the third evening, "is a total mess."

"And it's only just the beginning," Marie sighed and rubbed her raw palms together.

"I think this is a bad idea," Rosemary said, pointing out the obvious. "I think we should turn around."

"Question: How do you turn around?" Jack finally spoke up.

A sound like an exasperated sigh came from Rosemary.

"What direction are we heading in?" Marie asked, ignoring it.

Jack looked up, trying to place himself in the infinite cosmos and tried to pick a start to call the North one.

"We are heading in a," he paused to lick his finger and place it in the breeze (as if the wind would have anything to do with it), "a North easterly direction."

"Impossible," Rosemary answered.

"And it is impossible because?" he asked.

"Because the sun sets in the west, you twit, and we are pointed at it."

He sighed. He was once again out-smarted by the girls.

"Then you're in charge of navigating."

"I think not," she answered in a tone defiant enough to rival her fathers.

"Yes, you are. Your _dad_ is _Captain_ _Jack Sparrow_ after all."

"Fine," she answered. She would teach him.

_The Adventurer_ was being loaded while Dani was trying to comfort Elizabeth. She, in her typical state-of-mind was completely losing it. She had, however, stopped sobbing and was now angry.

"I can't believe my children did this!" she shouted over and over.

"It's in their blood," Dani would reply. "It would be strange if they didn't want to do this."

"You're not making me feel better," Elizabeth snarled.

"I'm not trying to. I'm trying not to look crazy in front of the two boys that are still here," Dani sighed.

"I look crazy?" she looked at Dani, then to Andy and Charlie.

The boys nodded in agreement, making Elizabeth stomp off in a huff.

"Thanks, boys. She was driving me crazy!" Dani smiled. "Charlie, will you go find out if your mother is coming along with us?"

"Sure will, Mrs. Sparrow," he chirped happily. Dani cringed at the use of her surname, not thinking she was old enough to be called 'Mrs. Sparrow' but turned to her son.

"Hey, mom?" he asked.

"Yes, Andy?" she looked at her son. He looked so much like Jack.

"So, you are _really_ a pirate?" he asked.

"I suppose so, yes," she answered.

"Did dad really do those things that they say he did?"

"It depends on who you heard the story from. If you heard it from your father, probably not; he tends to embellish."

"But what about the cannibals?"

"Which cannibals?"

"There were more than one set of cannibals?"

"Um, no?" Dani tried to evade.

"Will you tell me later?"

"We could probably convince your father to tell you later," Dani smiled.

"Great!" Andy yelled and hugged his mother.

"Now go and make sure the crew is doing what they are supposed to be doing."

He ran off and Dani smiled once more. As mad as she was at the situation, Dani was very excited to be going sailing once more.

That night, the whole crew, including the Turners, James, Charlie, and Andy were standing on deck as they were leaving.

Jack was also very excited to sail, but was angered by his daughter being so careless.

"I need to borrow my son," Jack said, carrying a chair up from the galley.

Andy followed him up to the Captain's deck and sat in the chair as indicated by Jack.

"There some rules that we need to discuss, since you are now sailing on my ship," Jack started. "There are actually hundreds of thousands of rules to follow and I will make them up as I go. And some with argue that they are more like…guidelines…" he shot a nasty glare over his shoulder towards Will and Elizabeth, "but on _my_ ship, you will follow them as absolutes."

"Yes, father?" Andy said.

"Rule one: _I _am the captain of this ship, but as my first-born son, you are left in charge if I am kidnapped, maimed, killed, dismembered, decapitated, emancipated, or any other way incapacitated."

His son nodded. Andy wondered for a second how his father got to be so weird. But he snapped himself out of the thought and continued to watch his father pace back and forth in front of him.

"Rule two: The captain is always right. So always listen to your captain's orders. But I am frequently wrong, so don't listen to me."

"So you're the captain and you're always right, but you're always wrong and I shouldn't listen to you?" Andy asked, trying to make sense of what his father just said.

"You're not making any sense, mate," Jack said. He turned around to face the crew on the main deck. "Now, I feel the effects of a hangover coming on and everyone knows the best way to cure a hangover is to drink more rum. So I, Doctor Jack, am going to fetch my prescribed medication. I believe there is a bottle of rum with my name on it down in the hold. In fact, I believe _all_ of the rum has my name on it." He started to walk down the stairs.

But he stopped short and spun around with his finger in their faces.

"Remember, Andy over there is in charge," he finished and staggered down the stairs.

The various members of the crew looked at each other with confused expressions. What was he thinking leaving a fifteen year old boy in charge? Especially one who had never been aboard a ship before?

Andy's mouth curved into a smirk. He was finally going to get to tell his mother what to do.

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A/N: I hope everyone is getting interested. There is my update. I _will_ be working on the next chaper, but I probably won't have it up for a couple days. Please, please, please review.

Thanks!


	6. I'll Show Him

The Adventures to Come

Chapter 6

Rosemary did her best to concentrate on the map that lay in front of her.

It felt like she'd been sitting there for days and it had only really been a half hour or so.

She knew it really wasn't that complicated to read a map. Rosemary had watched her father and mother do it and it didn't look that hard.

"So, we are heading in a general…this way direction..." she said to herself and pointing. "And we need to be heading in a general…that way direction," she said again.

Rosemary started to do some calculations and came up with an answer to Jack and Marie's questions. She wasn't sure if it was the _right_ answer, but it was an answer none-the-less.

She rechecked it and decided to go tell her friends. She was ready to prove that she was smarter than Jack and was able to navigate them in the right direction.

Rosemary pushed herself back from the desk and marched out of the cabin. She was going to get right in Jack's face and rub it in.

It was the middle of the night and instead of keeping watch, the boy had been asleep standing against the mast.

Rosemary didn't care.

"We need to be sailing that way," she said as she pointed to her left.

He groaned and opened an eye.

"Oh, good. It's just you. I thought someone was strangling cats. But thank God it was just you shouting," he said in a sarcastic tone.

"Jack Turner! What if someone's ship had come along and was unfriendly?" she asked.

"Well, I'd just tell them that you're Jack Sparrow's daughter and leave you with them. That would probably good enough to save my skin."

"How considerate of you," she said back.

"They'd probably surrender to me rather than take you aboard."

"You're missing the point here," she said, moving in his way as he tried to dodge her.

"Am I?" he smiled. "What is the point, then?" he paused with his chin resting on his hand.

She was upset at the obvious disrespect he was showing to her.

And he was too close for comfort.

Then it happened.

He'd pressed his lips to hers. She didn't react immediately. It took a second or thirty to realize what was happening.

When she finally did understand what he was doing; no, correction, what _they_ were doing, she pushed him back as hard as she could.

"Why did you do that?" she gasped.

"I wanted to know what you tasted like."

She didn't know what to do. Rosemary never had _the_ conversation with her mother. But she knew she shouldn't be doing that.

So Rosemary did what her mother _had_ gotten a chance to tell her. She smacked him hard across the face and stormed off towards the cabin that she shared with Marie.

Marie was asleep, and Rosemary breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't want to talk to her about this.

But all she could do was think about it. She was torn between wanting to kill Jack and do it all over again. And she marveled at the thought of how close the two feelings felt in the pit of her stomach.

She fell into an uneasy sleep, very wary of what could happen tomorrow.

A/N: It's very short, I know. But I just wanted to get this whole thing down tonight.

Please review.


	7. Relief of Captainarial Duties

"The Adventures to Come" 

Chapter 7

It had only been a day since Jack had left his son in charge, but it was worse than miserable for the crew.

Andy had first exercised his power by making his mother to clean his cabin.

Dani started to say something, but was cut off by her son.

"Mother, would you also make me some lunch?"

She grumbled and unwillingly stalked off to the galley, cursing her husband the whole time.

James Norrington's job duty details were outlined next. He was to clean the galley and make sure he _actually_ mopped under everything.

James looked like he wanted to hit something, but allowed himself to be steered in the direction of the galley by his wife.

Will was given the seemingly unending task of sharpening all knives and swords. He shrugged and set off to his job.

And Elizabeth's task was the most odd.

She was handed the job of repairing sails. Liz didn't sew. So giving her the most important task of all of them, was an awful idea. Worse than awful.

In Elizabeth's mind, this was the worst task that could have _ever_ been handed to her. Ever. Dani was the seamstress, Andy must know that, so why wasn't she doing it?

Andy and Charlie had decided to recline on deck and enjoy themselves. They were being waited on hand and foot and thought life couldn't get any better. But their good time was going end quickly.

The adults had gathered in the galley and were planning a mutiny.

"Well, we just have to all go out there and gang up on him. He's fourteen. What damage can he do?" Elizabeth asked.

"What you're failing to realize is that he _is_ Jack Sparrow's son," James pointed out.

Dani laughed.

"What?" Will asked.

"That was just really funny. I'm just going to exercise my parental rights," she said. "Jack isn't the only one who's afraid of me."

She stood and marched up the stairs, with Will and James right behind her.

"Andrew Sparrow!" Dani's voice boomed.

He stood immediately at attention.

"You are hearby stripped of your Captain-arily duties," Dani told him.

"You can't do that," Andy said back.

"Oh, yes we can," James said, taking one side, with Will on the other.

"Why?" he asked.

"We're staging a mutiny," Will answered. "We weren't happy with the current state of the ship. It's our right."

With that they both picked Andy by the armpits and carried him effortlessly to his cabin.

Dani followed behind them.

"And you stay in there until you've _really_ thought about what you've done," she said.

The crew all congregated back on the deck to celebrate. And then they all laid down.

"I'm exhausted," Will sighed.

"I have ten blisters. One on each of my fingers," Elizabeth moaned.

"Oh, please get over it. Sewing isn't that hard," Dani said angrily.

"None of this would never have happened if _your_ husband hadn't left _your_ son in charge," James said, not masking the sarcasm in his voice.

"Stop speaking with angry emphasis on certain words, Norrie," Dani complained.

"All of you just be quiet, I have a headache," Charlie, who'd been being very quiet, spoke up.

All the adults groaned and tossed whatever was near in Charlie's direction and they all laid down on the deck, ready to take a nap.

And at this precise time, Jack was finally ready to sail. He had struggled to grasp the concept of his little girl sailing off. But now that he had successfully drunk himself into a stupor and semi-recovered, he was very ready to go back to work.

He was walking with a renewed vigor down the hall when he looked through the window in his son's door and saw him pouting.

Jack walked in without knocking and greeted his boy.

"Son, why the long face?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," he said. He couldn't tell his father that he'd made the crew mutiny.

"I forgot to tell you the most important captain's rule: always keep the crew happy. A happy crew is a non-mutinous crew."

"Thanks, dad," Andy answered, still pouting.

"Are you coming out on deck?" Jack asked, not realizing that he didn't help his son.

"Maybe later, I'm going to stay here and think for a while."

Jack smiled and patted his son on the head. He was a good boy and would probably make one hell of a captain someday.

So he was completely shocked to walk out on the deck and see half of his crew asleep in a pile.

"What the bloody hell do you lot think you are doing?!" he shouted.

They all moved lightning fast, tripping over themselves in the process.

"Been hitting the rum a little early today?" Jack asked.

They all groaned.

"Shut up, Jack," Dani smacked him in the shoulder.

"The ship has never looked better," he pointed out.

"No thanks to you," James said.

"I'm going to bed," Bella sighed.

They all agreed with her and followed her.

Dani was the last one on deck with Jack.

"You're not going to bed, too, are you?" Jack asked his wife.

"Yes. I'm exhausted. I cleaned your son's cabin today. Who knew less than a week on board and he could completely destroy a room?"

"He _is_ my son," Jack smiled.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Did what?" he asked.

"You purposely left him in charge to either teach him a lesson or punish the rest of us," Dani said.

"_I did not_," he said defiantly.

"Liar," she said back.

"Pirate," he smiled.

"Good night, Jack," she said, slowly walking away.

He ran ahead of her, blocking her path.

"What?" she asked.

"Where's my kiss?" he asked in the sweetest way he could, which wasn't all that sweet.

"You don't get one," she answered.

"Why not?" he asked, shocked.

"I am too tired to kiss you, now if you don't mind…" she paused to push him out of the way, "I am going to go to bed, Captain."

"Your captain orders you to kiss him," he said, grabbing her wrist.

Dani decided to give in. She wouldn't tease him any longer.

The kiss she gave him rocked him to his very core. Dani pulled away and left him stuttering in her wake. Almost twenty years of marriage and "it" was still there. Whatever "it" ever was.

Tomorrow would be another day and hopefully they would be closer to finding their children.

A/N: Please review.


	8. Tell Me a Story

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 8

It had been a whole week now and neither Rosemary nor Jack had uttered a word to each other.

Marie had no clue as to what the problem was.

That night, after cleaning up after the two of them, she decided she was going to get some answers.

Marie found Rosemary with her knitting in the cabin the girls shared.

"What is going on around here?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Rosemary asked back.

"There is something going on between you and my brother. I know there is."

"You'll be mad," Rosemary stated.

"Just tell me," Marie said.

Rosemary didn't really want to tell her. She thought for a second. If she told her the truth, Marie would be mad. If Rosemary lied, it could postpone the anger, but it would still be there. Rosemary opted for the truth this time.

"Jack and I kissed and now we're not speaking."

Marie's mouth fell open in shock. She had known that Rosemary liked Jack, but thought Jack couldn't care less about Rosemary.

It seemed like an eternity passed in the ten seconds that Rosemary hadn't spoken.

"Say something," Rosemary pleaded.

"I'm going to tell you right now, I'm not mad at you. But I need to go have a word with my brother," she said as she was halfway out the door.

"This isn't entirely his fault."

"What?" she spun around.

"We've been getting closer and closer since we left Port Royal. Neither of us wanted to admit it, though."

Marie made a strangled, angry noise.

She grabbed her blanket and pillow and stomped out of the room.

She dropped her things in the last available cabin and set out to find her brother.

It wasn't hard to find him. Once again, he was sleeping instead of keeping look out.

Marie didn't care that he was asleep nor did she hesitate to walk straight up and smack him across the face. And for good measure, she stomped as hard as she could on his foot.

Instantly he was howling and alternately rubbing his foot and his cheek.

"Now what was that for?" he shouted. He sounded exactly like his father when he was angry.

"That smack was for being an awful brother and I trod on your foot because you don't go around kissing people."

"What?" he asked. He was still groggy from being woken up and distracted by the pain.

"You kissed Rosemary."

"Yes, yes, I did," Jack smiled.

"Wipe that grin off your face; you just ruined my friendship with those lips."

"How so?" Jack asked, faking interest.

"You are such a fool! I can't share her. We can't be best friends while you two…kiss and things. I wouldn't be able to hear about you and her kissing."

"You don't have to worry; she doesn't want anything to do with me. She smacked me harder than you did," Jack angrily told his sister.

"You are such an idiot. If you can't understand that she likes you, you don't deserve her anyway. This could be to my advantage."

"I hate you, you know that?" Jack asked his sister.

"Not as much as I hate you," she answered back and stomped away.

The rest of this trip was going to be interesting being that no one was speaking to each other.

They silently performed their jobs the next day and the days after. No one discussed the plans. However, Rosemary was keeping an eye on where they were going.

She was certain that they were getting ever so much closer to the island. She so wanted to prove that she was as brave as her father when it came down to the actual event.

And currently, her father was pacing the deck of _The Adventurer_.

"What is your ship stocked with?" Jack asked James after walking around in silence.

"To sit in harbor? Not much. The bare minimums. Maybe some gun powder, a couple barrels of clean drinking water and maybe a barrel of rum or two. No food at all."

"Any supplies of weaponry?"

"The cannons, of course. Some rifles and maybe a couple of swords. Nothing that would be devastating to us if it were stolen."

"So they are out in the middle of an ocean, no supplies, and no clue how to sail a ship?" Elizabeth asked.

"It seems that way," Jack answered.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Dani asked Jack.

"If it's about rum, then absolutely yes!" Jack answered.

"No, not quite. We have a need to sail up river."

"That was going to be my next guess."

"What do you mean 'up river'?" James asked.

"Tia Dalma," Dani smiled.

The children, meaning Andy and Charlie, were awestruck at the idea of meeting someone named Tia Dalma. They had no idea why they would need to see her, but it sounded great, nonetheless.

"Dad," Andy asked later that day.

"Yes, son?" Jack said back, slightly distracted by the setting sun as he was steering the ship.

"Will you tell Charlie and me a story? A _real_ story about you?"

"Um…" Jack looked around on the deck, eventually spotting Dani and flagging her down.

"Love, Andrew here wants to hear a story. Which one should I tell him and Charlie?"

"I don't know. There was that whole span of time that we each thought the other was dead," Dani answered.

The boys looked even more excited to hear a story after Dani's statement.

"William!" Jack called.

"Yes, Jack?"

"Should I tell the boys about Isla de Muerta?"

"Oh, I don't know, Jack. That could be an awfully _scary_ story at times…" Will teased.

"Please, please?" Andrew begged.

"Okay. Gibbs, take the wheel. And someone get me my coat!"

Ragetti ran off to get the captain's coat and came back. He settled down with the various crewmembers to hear the story.

Jack put his coat on and looked at the crowd that had gathered.

"Most of you are _in_ this story," he said.

"We can stay and listen, though, right?" Pintel asked.

"Oh, I suppose. But this is _my_ story, savvy?"

The crowd nodded and Jack cleared his throat.

"Many, many years ago…"

"How long ago?" Charlie asked.

"Many…" Jack said, obviously struggling to remember.

"No, how many…exactly?"

"About thirty, I suppose."

"How come you aren't old, like my dad?" Charlie asked.

"That is another story, lad. Norrington, get your son to shut up. All questions must be submitted in writing _after_ the story is finished."

Norrington looked slightly miffed at his son's comment, but told him to listen to the story.

"So, many years ago, I received some information about the Isla de Muerta, an island of the dead. And the only way to reach this place was to be told by someone who knows."

"What was so great about this island?"

"What did I tell you about questions?" Jack asked.

"Sorry," Charlie said.

"Anyway…it was rumored then that somewhere on this island, was a chest of Aztec gold, taken from them by the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez. Now, my original crew and I decided that we could do with some treasure…so we set out to find it. Isn't that right, love?"

"Yes, Jack," Dani sighed.

"The only soul I told the coordinates to was to my first mate, Hector Barbossa, and he went and planned a particularly vicious mutiny. I was marooned on an island in the middle of nowhere on the way to the Isla de Muerta."

"Were you there, mom?" Andy asked.

"Yes…I was there, for a while. I escaped though…I don't really want to talk about this…"

"Anyway…I managed to get off the island…"

"How did you get off the island, Uncle Jack?"

"That's Captain Jack to you, boy. And it was sea turtles, a pair of them strapped to my feet," Jack answered.

A clear choking noise was heard from the other side of the deck. Everyone turned around and saw Will cleaning himself up.

"What's wrong with you, Turner?" Jack asked.

"I'm sorry…I thought you said 'sea turtles'. It made me laugh," Will answered.

"For all purposes of this story, it was sea turtles. Where was I? Oh, yes…."

Jack continued his story late into the night. The boys were completely amazed with the idea of undead pirates, especially when they learned that they were sitting next to two of the said cursed men.

Each adult spent the story 'tut-tutting' and laughing alternately at the exaggeration that was Jack's story.

The boys fell asleep as soon as he stopped talking, obviously tired out from the day.

Everyone else decided to follow suit. Tomorrow was going to be a long day: they were going to see Tia Dalma.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you liked/didn't like.


	9. Lost?

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 9

Rosemary woke up one day in the following week and felt awful. It wasn't because she was ill; her malady was something that plagued her mind, rather than her body. She felt like something was very wrong. She also knew it was about time the here of them had a discussion.

Rosemary got up and dressed, trying to psych herself up to face Jack and Marie.

She gathered them next to the mainmast and they stood silently waiting; each one waiting for the other to speak. Marie constantly picked at her nails, Jack stood with his arms folded and tapping his food, while Rosemary stared intently at her boots.

"So," Jack spoke up. "Why are we all here?"

"I think something is wrong. Something doesn't feel right," Rosemary told them.

Just as quickly was the fight started, it was over. They all began to figure out a plan.

"By my calculations, we went a drift somewhere along the coast of Jamaica."

"Of course. Jamaica is where we started from. I'd assume that's where we'd have gotten lost," Jack told her.

"You don't have to be mean about it," Marie said back angrily. She had seen Rosemary sniffle at Jack's comment and was trying to make the tears stop coming.

"But we are definitely heading west," Jack said while turning to look at the horizon.

"But something doesn't feel right."

"So what do we do?" Marie asked.

"There is nothing we _can_ do. We have to sail somewhere and find out which 'where' it is," Rosemary said.

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better. So we're just going to stop _anywhere_?" Marie asked.

"We are on a British Royal ship, we'll be fine," Jack said. "Don't worry. I can protect us," he smiled at Rosemary and puffed out his chest.

"That doesn't make me feel any better either," sighed Marie.

They made the group decision to stay on their current course, to see where it would lead them. As the sun became brighter and the haze began to burn off, it was easy to see that there was some sort of land-mass ahead.

"I would say," Rosemary started as they sat down for a quick rest, "that we will reach it by tonight. But I don't trust my navigational skills anymore."

Jack spoke first and was unusually kind. "I shouldn't have forced you into navigating. It should have been a group decision. This isn't your fault."

"The hell it isn't!" she shouted back. "I'm the one who pointed us in this direction. And I'm the daughter of Jack Sparrow. I should be able to do this."

"We should all be able to read maps. But it's too late for that. Now we have to do some learning by doing. All we have is each other right now," Marie said.

"That's really kind of you, Marie," answered Rosemary.

"No, I'm serious. All we have is each other. We don't have any more food. I vote we kill Jack."

"I am not going to eat Jack," Rosemary laughed.

"I didn't say 'eat', I said 'kill'. At least we could vent our frustrations."

Jack's face dropped.

"I'm not kidding. You two go talk or whatever. I am going to be on look out," Marie answered.

Rosemary and Jack looked at each other and decided to follow orders. They slowly walked away towards the bow of the ship.

Marie leaned back on the mast and rolled hr eyes. This was either a great personal sacrifice for which everyone would love her or could possibly be the worst thing she'd ever done or do in the future.

Rosemary smiled and giggled nervously; she'd never been in a situation like this and Jack walked along wringing his hands, he'd never had to do this before either. (Jack had gotten his father's good looks, but was afraid he'd get his Godfather's charm with women, meaning he didn't want to get smacked anymore.)

"So…" she sighed.

"So…" he answered her back.

"What should we talk about?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Maybe we should talk about the kiss."

"Oh, yes, about that…" he started, but before he could finish, she had put both her hands on his face and pulled his lips to hers.

When they broke apart, Jack was smirking.

"Shut up," she smacked him in the shoulder.

"Great discussion, I think we should do it more often. Now let's go do our chores."

He strolled of leaving Rosemary leaning on the railing. What had she gotten herself into?

A/N: Please review.


	10. We've Come for Help

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 10

Jack Sparrow wondered if he could have possibly, just maybe, have made a wrong turn somewhere. He was the best at navigation (unless Danielle was within earshot) so he should be right on track. Once more he was pacing; it was his new favorite action.

"No, no, no," he said out loud. "We are going in the proper direction," he said as he closed his compass. "I shouldn't doubt myself. I wonder where this doubt has come from."

The crew had seen and heard him, but paid Jack no mind. It was as per usual aboard _The Adventurer_. The odd thing, that _everyone_ had noticed, was Dani mirroring her husband's actions. It had actually started concerning some of the crewmembers and especially the children.

"Your parents seem to be a lot alike," Charlie said, watching Dani and Jack pace back and forth.

"Sometimes it scares me," Andy said as both of his parents stopped, pivoted on their right feet and continued to pace.

Will Turner had wandered out and laughed at the sight. "Why are _you_ pacing?"

"I had an awful thought last night," she answered.

"What would that awful thought be?"

"Your son has feelings for my daughter, correct?"

Will nodded; he wondered where she was going with this.

"And my daughter has some feelings for your son."

Will still didn't put together what she was saying. Or rather, he didn't want to admit that he understood.

"Bloody hell," was his response.

"Yes, exactly. Have you had that _certain_ conversation with your son?"

"I was waiting. Did you talk to Rosemary?"

"Only about the important, current things. I had planned to lie about everything else."

"Me as well," Will answered. "Did you tell Jack yet about your little theory?" he then asked.

"He's already upset as it is; I'll just pray for my daughter's, and your son's, better judgment."

"I suppose we can always hope, but looking at their examples…" he waved a hand around the ship.

"Touchez, Mr. Turner. Touchez."

"I do, however, appreciate that you aren't placing all blame on my son."

"All I can say is that she's her father's daughter when it comes to emotions."

"I really hope when we find them, we don't have grandchildren."

Elizabeth, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, immediately stomped up to them.

"What's this about grandchildren?" she shrieked.

"Nothing," Will lied.

"We weren't talking about grandchildren. Where would you get a silly idea like that?" Dani said, smiling.

And it was that smile that alerted Elizabeth Something about it was just so insincere. But Liz nodded and walked away.

"She doesn't believe us," Dani laughed.

"It was a really awful lie," Will smiled back.

"What are you two smiling about?" Jack asked.

Neither one of them had noticed that Jack had stopped pacing and had stepped down.

"Nothing of importance, mate," Will said.

"Shall we go tell the boys another story?" Dani asked.

"There's no time, William," Jack started. "We have a need to head up river."

"We're to the bayou already?" Dani asked.

"Yes," Jack answered.

"Are we taking Charlie and Andy with us?" Will asked.

"I suppose," he said, looking to the boys. "They should meet her."

The crew, just a few select members, was loaded into the longboats and they rowed into the dark bayou.

When they reached the shack, Jack didn't knock, just grabbed Dani by the hand and pulled her in.

"Jack Sparrow?" a familiar voice said.

"Tia Dalma," Jack answered back.

"And Mrs. Sparrow, lovely as ever," Tia Dalma smiled.

Her teeth were black as ever and her eyes were still bright, but her voice had a rasp to it and her hair was completely grey.

"You are the first and only person to call me 'lovely'," Dani said back.

"Mr. and Mrs. Turner as well," she smiled at the couple.

"Nice to see you again," Will said.

"And you are?" she asked James and Arabella.

"I am James Norrington and this is my wife. This is my son, Charles."

"And this is our son, Andy," Jack said.

"I know. He has your eyes, Jack."

The boys were awestruck. They had no idea what to say or what to do. This was the first time they had truly met one of Jack Sparrow's eclectic friends.

"This is the quietest they've been since we started this trip," James said.

They boys were busy looking at the various live, and dead, things in jars.

"We need your help," Elizabeth said.

"I know that as well. You children and your daughter are missing," Tia Dalma said. "But they aren't really missing are they?" she smiled.

"Do you know where they are?" Will asked.

"I demand payment."

"Sorry, love. I'm fresh out of undead monkeys," Jack said.

"Then I cannot help you."

"We came for help and we are not leaving without it," Dani said.

A/N: Please review.


	11. Tia Dalma

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 11

Dani was very upset. Tia Dalma was well-equipped to help them and she was arguing over payment.

But Dani's outburst must have changed something in Tia. Her face softened and she smiled at Dani.

"I must apologize, Mrs. Sparrow. I will help you. I need no payment this time," Tia Dalma said.

The others stood in total silence as the two women interacted. Jack nervously looked back and forth to them, trying to read their expressions.

It wasn't so much that Tia Dalma was afraid of Dani, but she knew that you never come between a mother and her children.

And Tia had to respect the woman. She had been the one woman to win Jack Sparrow's heart. That was something she had tried herself to do and failed miserably.

Many, many years ago, she had created another compass that would lead you to whatever you wanted the most. She knew that Jack would be coming and she wanted to show him how much she felt for him.

Tia had been slightly concerned when she had handed Jack the original compass and it pointed out to sea. She didn't like it, but she decided that she would create another compass and show him her deepest desire. She couldn't help but have fallen in love with him and she very much wanted him to return the love.

But the next time he arrived, he brought a woman with him. It was that Danielle Reese and it truly appeared that he was, at least, in lust with if it wasn't love.

From the very first time they had met, to when Jack returned after the mutiny, she hated Danielle with a fiery passion. And then she was the one who had told Jack his love was dead, despite knowing that she was hidden in Port Royal.

So before Dani had left with Jack on her first meeting with Tia, she gave her the second compass. It broke Tia's heart to see it point to Jack.

And she felt the same heartbreak for a completely different reason. She felt badly for the woman who sat across from her. She knew just how she felt.

"Can you tell me where they are?" Dani asked.

"I can help." She stood and walked behind a curtain at the back of the room.

"What's going on?" Will whispered.

"I'm not sure," James answered.

Jack remained silent. He knew what was going on and really didn't want to be involved any more. He'd "known" her, then met Dani, and stopped "knowing" Tia Dalma. That story played out many times in his life. Jack meets a girl, has a good time and leaves for another. That was just him.

Tia Dalma came back to her table and asked for everyone's wedding rings. Dani immediately pulled hers off and placed it on the table. Jack, Will, and James placed theirs next, leaving Liz and Bella staring in hesitation.

Dani didn't turn to look at the women, but said, "Do it now."

Her tone scared the women and they rushed to remove their jewelry.

Tia Dalma carefully picked up the six rings and shook them in her hands and said a phrase in Latin.

The rings fell out of her hands and into a very distinct formation on her map tabletop.

Jack's eyes widened at the sight and Dani gasped.

"Bloody hell," Jack said. "Thank you, Tia," Jack told her and slid his ring on. "We must be going."

All the people in the shack hurriedly followed Jack and Dani out and into the longboats.

Gibbs had waited with the longboats and now waited for an explanation, much like everyone else.

"Do we have a heading, captain?" Gibbs asked.

Jack looked up from whispering to Dani and shook his head. He mouthed 'later' and indicated the children. Gibbs nodded in acknowledgement and continued rowing. Jack continued to whisper in Dani's ear and tried to calm the visibly panicked woman.

When they reached _The Adventurer_, they immediately sent the children to bed and posted a guard at the door.

James was the first to speak up. "What did I miss when I looked at that map?"

"Her map said that the children are heading to Isle de Paradis."

"That doesn't sound so back," Bella answered.

The whole rest of the ship members turned and stared at her.

"What?" she asked. "Sounds like the Garden of Eden."

Jack rounded on her. "It's funny that you mentioned that. In fact, Isle de Paradis is the complete opposite. From out in sea, it _does_ look like a paradise," Jack said.

"But once you get there it's Hell," Dani finished.

"That map did not lead to Isle de Paradis, they must have blown off course."

Elizabeth panicked and clutched Will's arm. "How are we going to reach them in time?" she cried.

"Calm down!" Dani said, trying to resist the urge to do her bodily harm.

"The catch about this island, if I do remember correctly," James started, "is that everyone must be in agreement before setting food on it."

"That _is_ correct, Norrington," Jack answered.

"So?" Bella asked.

"If anyone of them has a single doubt about going on land, none of them will be able to go."

"So we have to hop that one is doubtful until we can get there."

A/N: Please review.


	12. Doubt

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 12

As it turns out, the adults were getting their wish. Rosemary was doubting everything. She wasn't sure about her semi-relationship with Jack. And she was sure that going ashore, to a completely unknown island, was an awful idea.

Rosemary was sure all of these thoughts were coming from being exhausted. She'd taken to staying up with Jack all night and doing her chores during the day. So she hadn't had a really coherent thought in days.

Jack was absolutely gung-ho about going ashore. He had come all this way and wanted to see everything, despite it not being the correct island. Maybe there would be better treasure. Maybe whoever lived there would make him their king. There were just too many possibilities that he just couldn't pass up.

And he was trying to push his enthusiasm on his sister, who was leaning towards Rosemary's frame of mind.

"No, once we get there, you'll see. No Cyclops, no witch turning men into pigs, nothing. I'm sure it's just the beautiful island that it appears to be."

"How do you know?" the girls asked.

"Well, I don't know for sure. But I've been over and over this and it must be true. This is our reward for such a miserable trip."

He still wasn't convincing them. So because of the curse, unknown to the kids, their doubt from the girls, their ship appeared to move, but they were really frozen in time.

They continued doing their chores as usual and struggling to eat as little as possible. Whether or not the island was a good idea, at least it seemed to have vegetation growing upon it. And that seemed to have changed the girls' minds.

So the following day, they actually sailed a few leagues towards the island.

But of course, better judgment crept its way back into their minds and the ship halted its movement.

A week later and the children were still the same distance from the island. They were finally realizing something was wrong.

"I think something is wrong," Jack said.

"You think?" Rosemary asked sarcastically.

"Sometimes, but it hurts," he said.

"We should have been to the island and back by now," Marie told them.

"I know."

"But we seemed to have been sailing. It's not like we put the anchor down and were just sitting here. We _have been _sailing," Rosemary said.

"So what should we do?" Jack asked to no one in particular.

"I'm hungry," Marie said.

"We don't have any food left. So…should we try to catch a fish?" Rosemary asked.

"The fish out here are too deep to catch," Jack answered.

"What about killing a bird? We've got some of those," she said, motioning up.

"It's just a seagull. Not enough meat. I think we should swim to shore," Jack said.

"It's too far away. We'll never make it," Marie said.

"Well, what do we agree upon?" Jack said.

"We need to get food," Rosemary answered.

"And where is there food?"

"The island," Marie answered her brother.

"So, what do we need to do?" Jack asked again.

"Go ashore," the girls answered together.

The ship instantly started moving again, at a faster rate than it had ever moved. They were going to get to landmass and they were going to get some food.

At the same time on _The Adventurer_, Jack managed to catch the wind and they were moving at a fairly steady pace.

Jack was standing, unmoving, at the wheel.

He wanted his daughter back.

Jack had spent the last couple of night really trying to decide how he felt about this situation. He was, on one hand, very pleased that his daughter had picked up the pirate trait. But he was very, _very_ angry that a girl, of a mere sixteen, ran off with two of her friends to find treasure. She had _never_ sailed before and hardly ever done a real chore.

He settled on being angry. Jack angrily whipped the wheel around for good measure and then put it back in place.

The sleeping crew was heard grumbling below deck, having been knocked out of their hammocks.

But the angriest of them all being awoken was Elizabeth. The sudden jerk of the ship rolled her right out of her bed and onto the wooden floor.

She let out a shriek of exasperation and slammed open the door.

Will followed quickly, trying to pull his britches on and run out the door.

Dani had been in the galley when Jack pulled his little stunt maneuver and fell over the wooden bench. She was now sporting two very large and nasty bruises on her forehead and knee because of her husband's stupidity.

When she heard Elizabeth shriek, she knew she was in for a good show, so despite her pain, she jogged up the steps to the main deck.

Dani got there just in time to hear Lizzie cursing Jack to the ends of the Earth.

"Been there, love. I don't care to do it again," Jack answered her.

Elizabeth screamed in anger once more and stomped back to her cabin.

Will looked at Dani and immediately rushed to her.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Yes, I'm fine. Only a flesh wound or so," Dani smiled.

Jack turned in concern for his wife.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

"I was knocked over the bench in the galley when you jerked the wheel," Dani explained.

"Your forehead is bleeding a little, I'll help you get it cleaned up," Will said.

"All right. Are you coming to bed, Jack?" she asked her husband.

"When Gibbs gets up in an hour or so, yes," he answered her, while watching Will and Dani interact.

"I'll be waiting," she smiled.

She walked away with Will to clean up the cut.

Jack was even angrier than he had been about his daughter. William Turner was trying to steal his wife!

So when Gibbs walked on deck, Jack was drunker than drunk. He wanted to forget, however temporarily, that he had all these problems. And that was a bigger problem than all the rest. He couldn't forget that he had these problems.

"Jack, go to bed," Gibbs told him while he helped the inebriated man to his feet.

"I'm afraid what I'm going to find when I get there," Jack slurred.

"What? You'll find your wife, Jack," Gibbs told him.

"Is Will in his own cabin?" Jack asked.

"I'd assume so."

"No, go check. I'm not going in until you make sure my wife is alone," jack said.

"What's this all about?"

"Just check!"

Obviously, yelling outside the cabin woke Dani. She had been asleep for about twenty minutes when it had started. Will had cleaned up the cut and parted ways.

So now she was creeping up next to the door listening to the conversation between Jack and Mr. Gibbs.

Dani, half-dressed, wrenched open the door and Jack jumped a mile in the air.

"I am alone. And if you don't tell me what's going on, it'll stay that way," Dani said.

Gibbs dumped Jack on the floor and walked out to leave Dani and him alone.

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but instead belched loudly and passed out at his wife's feet.

This trip was getting worse by the minute.

A/N: Please, please review.


	13. Isle de Paradis

I would like to start this chapter by thanking the people who have consistently reviewed my story thus far: xRubyDustx, Alel, Captain Uschi, xthexstarlettex, Chicaga, MJLS, Miah Maddy and Smithy. If I have forgotten anyone, please accept my humble apologies and thanks.

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 13

When Jack awoke the next morning, afternoon rather, he was very much alone.

He carefully stood and dressed himself. He was still a little woozy (aka hung-over), but with Jack, no one would notice the difference.

He squinted into the sunlight as he marched across the deck and up to Dani who was steering the ship.

"What do you think you're doing?" He demanded to know.

"I am steering the ship, Jack. Any sensible chimpanzee could see that," she answered. "I tried to wake you so Gibbs could sleep, but you wouldn't budge," she finished.

"You should have tried harder," Jack pouted. He was mad that he'd missed most of the day.

"That's what happens when you drink too much," she said matter-of-factly.

"We need to converse," Jack said, remembering why he had drank so much.

"What are we doing now, then?"

"Quiet, you," he said. "What are you and Turner up to?"

"What?" she asked.

"What are you and Turner do last night?"

"Will cleaned up the cut on my forehead. I still have a rather large lump there. What did…?" she stopped and stared at the man before her. "You think I'm having an affair? With Will? On a ship with you and Lizzie and my child?"

Jack contemplated her long run-on question and started to smile. Dani started to laugh as well.

"Now that you say it like that…" Jack answered his wife.

"That _was_ a bloody stupid question, Jack," she said back and then kissed him. "I can't believe you'd think I'd pick Will over you."

"I suppose that _was_ a bloody stupid idea," Jack said.

They stood talking to each other for a few minutes until they were interrupted by Marty calling down from the crow's nest.

"There's a ship, but it's almost ashore!" he called.

Everyone rushed to the starboard side of the ship and looked over the railing.

"James, is that your ship?" Elizabeth called.

"Yes, I can see the seal on the sail," he answered her.

Jack had his spy glass out and was searching for signs of life.

"Do you see anything?" Dani asked.

"One of the longboats is missing off the port side," Jack reported.

"Bloody hell," several people cursed.

Elizabeth instantly started to cry and had to be consoled by Bella.

"Full speed ahead, men! Prepare to row if we must," Jack said, checking the wind direction. They were lucky; they were sailing with the wind.

Less than an hour later, Dani, Jack, Will and James boarded the _HMS Edwards_. Unfortunately, just like they thought, it was empty.

"They've gone ashore," Dani said, unhappily.

"That means we must go ashore," Will said.

James nodded in agreement and motioned to the others on _The Adventurer_.

Dani was extremely upset. She was scared to find the children and face them. And she was more scared that she wouldn't.

It seemed like forever to row to the sandy beach. But didn't it always feel like forever when you were scared or worried?

It was a beautifully clear night and Dani found herself staring out at the setting sun that had turned a deep orange. She was trying to distract herself by counting the colored stripes in the sky.

And there she stood while Jack broke the group of them into search teams. She said nothing while a plan, with a signal, was created. If anyone needed help, or if they found something, one shot would mean help and two shots would mean they found the kids.

There were about five real colors in the sky right then. It started at a deep red-orange, then a yellow-orange and slowly changing from a pink to a purple and ending up with the dark blue sky above them.

Jack taking Dani's arm is what broke her out of her reverie.

Jack and Dani headed north into the vegetation. James and Gibbs went to the west and Will, Marty, and Cotton headed along the east shore.

As much as Elizabeth had wanted to go with them, Jack just didn't want to deal with her. They took a vote and decided to leave her behind, claiming they needed someone strong and capable to look after the boys. In fact, Jack and Will knew she'd be a mess. Jack had really wanted Dani to stay back as well, but she had already climbed down off the ship and into the longboat before he could say anything.

She was now leading Jack into dense vegetation trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Dani," Jack said.

"Shh," she hissed.

"When is the isle going to turn into Hell?"

"How should I…?" she said before she stopped dead in her tracks.

"I suppose you've come for your children," a familiar voice asked.

It was Barbossa.

"I think we just found Hell," Jack answered himself. "Or as near as we're going to get."

Dani, without thinking, fired two shots into the air.

"Do you honestly think they'll find you?" another voice said. Cutler Beckett.

"Do _not_ underestimate the power of Will Turner and the rest of my crew," Jack said, hoping he was correct.

"Mama!" Rosemary cried. She, Jack and Marie were tied together and encircled in a ring of fire.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Jack asked Barbossa. "Are you undead, _again_?"

"Turns out Jones will stop at nothing to destroy you, Jack," Barbossa snarled.

"Hasn't he been dead?" Dani asked.

"He's in his own locker," Beckett said. "And he's not happy. You owe him, Sparrow. Just like you owe us."

"I owe you nothing. You both got what you deserved," Jack answered.

Dani was silent now. She was trying to work out a plan to rescue the children.

Luckily enough, Will, James and the rest of the crew showed up and were astounded at the sight.

A few of Jones' men arrived, ready to defend the prisoners.

"Why are there always undead people when I get involved with you, Sparrow?" Norrington asked.

"I'm just special," Jack answered sarcastically and readied his sword.

The others followed suit, but Dani hesitated.

"We need to kill them, Dani," he said and launched forward into battle.

Something in her mind told her this wasn't gong to work. Maybe it was because they were already dead. Maybe because this island was cursed. Dani couldn't decide and she also launched into the fight.

Swords clanged and men grunted in anger and exhaustion as the battle wore on. And despite all the work they had done and the best defense they could muster, Jack's crew wasn't winning. In fact, they were losing ground and were being pushed back towards the beach.

Jack didn't want to retreat, but he needed to formulate a plan.

In the moonlight, the seven of them collapsed on the sand.

"They are technically alive, correct?" James asked.

"I suppose," Will answered as he tried to clean some blood off of his arm.

"There must be a catch," Dani said. "Like when we were coming up to the island, everyone had to be in total agreement. Perhaps the only way around this is to agree on not killing them."

Jack look at her in shock. "_Not_ kill them? How did you reason that?"

"They don't want us. They want the kids. The kids have to do it," she answered.

"I don't want my son, let alone my daughter, to be a murderer," Will said.

"They can't be, "Jack started, "the things they have to kill are already dead."

"So you think that these people won't die, again, because we aren't supposed to be the ones to do it?" James asked.

"Does anyone else have any better ideas?" Dani asked.

The men were silent.

"So our plan needs to be to free the children and have them kill the evil dead."

A/N: Please review! Thanks in advance.


	14. Isle de Paradis 2

Warning: This is going to be slightly redundant at the end. It's the arrival of the children at the Isle de Paradis. Just thought you ought to know.

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 14

Jack, Rosemary and Marie made their way out of the longboat and laid on the warm sand. It was a relief to be on land. But the silence of the moment was broken by Jack's cursing.

"What's wrong?" Rosemary asked.

"Sand in a blister," he said as he rubbed his hand.

Marie stood and went to investigate a pair of trees with some brightly colored fruit growing on it as Rosemary looked at Jack's hand.

"Hey!" she called. "Bananas!"

Jack forgot the pain in his hand and rushed with Rosemary to his sister.

They ate all the bananas they could reach before collapsing at the base of the trees.

The three of them sat in the same place until the sun started to set.

"Do you s'pose we should go back to the ship or stay here?" Rosemary asked.

"Do you fancy a camp-out?" Jack smiled.

"Shut up and keep your hands to yourself. Mother would be so disappointed in you," Marie said.

"It's awfully dark, we should just make ourselves comfortable here," Rosemary said as she looked around.

Twenty minutes later, the three of them were standing and arguing about the best place to sleep.

"We should sleep in the longboat!" Marie shouted.

"No, we should sleep in the brush," Jack answered her back.

"I think we should sleep by the fire," Rosemary butted in.

The one thing they could decide on was the fire being created. They were going to need it now that the sun had set and it was cooling off.

Rosemary was _always_ cold, so she thought it would be the best place to be.

And it was the shouting that caused them to not hear what was creeping up on them. And it was too late when they did notice.

Several sea-creature men had crept out of the jungle and clapped them in irons. Jack struggled as best as he could, making it hard for them to hold on to him, but the girls didn't follow suit.

Rosemary had once heard her parents speak about these types of creatures. Of course, her parents didn't know that Rosemary was listening, but she was listening anyway.

She heard them say that fighting these things was difficult, damn near impossible really. Then their conversation had turned to something about a mill wheel and Will Turner and James Norrington being dizzy and Rosemary had stopped listening.

So, instead of fighting the thing that was holding her, she let it lead her into the dense, dark jungle.

Marie also let it lead her into the jungle, but she wasn't so quiet. She was swearing loudly and complaining the whole way, making her brother smile even when they were in immense trouble.

The three were brought to a clearing in the jungle and set in front of two odd-looking men.

"This is it?" one man asked. He was well-dressed and obviously well-educated, but looked at them with great disdain. "I should have expected this from Sparrow and Turner."

"They'll make perfect bargaining tools, though," the other man answered.

"Who are you people?" Jack demanded to know.

"Your worst nightmare," the first man answered.

"I am Hector Barbossa, but you can call me Captain," the older man said.

"And I am Lord Cutler Beckett and henceforth, you are our prisoners until your parents get here and exchange their lives for yours."

"What!" Rosemary cried.

"You're the Sparrow child, aren't you?" Beckett asked.

"I might be," she said. Rosemary was trying to be strong, but it just wasn't working. She just wanted to cry.

Beckett walked by and touched her face, just like he had done to her mother so long ago.

"Leave her alone!" Jack shouted.

Beckett turned on his heal in the dirt and looked Jack in the face.

"And you are Turner's son, correct?"

"I don't know who you are, but I don't want you touching her like that!" he shouted in Beckett's face.

"Isn't that cute, Barbossa?" Beckett asked, laughing a maniacal laugh.

"Oh, it's playing out better than we could have hoped. Jones will be pleased," Barbossa said.

"Sparrow'll be here soon, then," Beckett said. "Take them back and watch them."

The kids were led away and shackled to makeshift posts. They had no idea what was going on, but they certainly didn't like it.

One by one, Jack, Rosemary and Marie fell asleep standing up. They were chastised every time they started to speak, so the silence made them fall asleep.

The whole of the next day, the children were treated as slaves. Rosemary worked as Beckett's personal slave and spent the day defending herself from his advances.

Jack was left shackled to the stakes, thus making him more mad that he couldn't defend his sister or Rosemary. He hated that Beckett was doing this. Jack hated that he was leaving his two best friends vulnerable to whatever these evil men threw at them. Jack didn't even know why these people were after them or their parents. He was left totally confused and utterly speechless at the whole thing.

Marie was put in charge of gathering food. She was led at sword-point to a very lush spot and started gathering food.

The day was, all in all, miserable for the three of them. Rosemary eventually was tied back to the stake next to Jack and Marie also joined them.

"Why don't they just kill us?" Rosemary whispered from the corner of her mouth.

"I don't know. I've stood pondering our situation all day and all I could decide on was that my legs are exhausted," Jack answered.

"What did you say about protecting us?" Marie asked.

"Shut up,' he sighed. He was truly upset about the situation. He wasn't sure what he should do or even could do. Jack was only seventeen years old and now in a grave situation with no real training of any kind. He had just as many problems as the girls had.

At the precise moment that all of their hope had drained, a familiar voice echoed through the trees. A wall of fire instantly shot up around them. But then they saw the person whom the voice had come: Jack Sparrow.

Beckett and Barbossa confronted Jack and Dani and two shots rang out.

Some quick words were had between the four before Rosemary cried out.

"Mom!" she shouted.

Dani's eyes swept over in their direction instantly and her angry scowl turned to a face of fear.

"Why'd you shout? Surely we're in for it now!" Jack said.

"She didn't see us properly until I shouted."

The rest of _The Adventurer_'s crew had assembled with Jack and Dani and prepared to fight.

The children could only watch in astonishment as their parents and friends expertly handled their cutlasses. But no matter how well they fought, they were being pushed back to where they had come from and out of sight.

Rosemary and Marie slipped down in the sand, hands still behind their backs. Jack, who had been so sure they would be rescued, also started to tear up. This was just too much. Things were not looking good for the Sparrow and Turner children.

A/N: Please review.


	15. A Plan, A Plan, Who's Got A Plan?

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 15

"That is the worst plan ever," Jack said.

"Remember, no one has any better ideas," Dani said.

The men were once again silent.

Jack felt an incredible urge to hurt something. He wanted someone else to feel the pain he felt as he saw his daughter tied up.

But something was keeping him from standing and inflicting the pain. Jack was sure that this wasn't sound mind, and therefore, he should refrain from voicing his violent opinions until he'd had some rum. Hopefully by then, everyone else would be inebriated enough by then to agree and then the slaughtering could begin.

No one said anything still.

The thoughts continued to circulate through Jack's mind. The silence was actually making him angrier.

Dani knew full well what Jack was silently seething about. They had been caught off-guard and under-manned and forced back away from what they had come for: the children.

"Someone needs to go back for a store of rum," Dani said.

This made Jack smile in the midst of everything. His wife knew him better than he knew himself.

Cotton, Cotton's parrot and Marty were chosen and rowed back to _The Adventurer_ in search of rum. Cotton was the only person to re-board the ship though. That way, Elizabeth couldn't get her panicked questions answered.

The problem was, all she did was climb into the longboat and refused to climb out. The parrot was sent ahead as a warning.

Even Will groaned as the bird relayed the news. Jack, despite the dizzyingly clearness of his head, he stood and kicked sand into the air.

"This'll be much worse with Lizzie! We're already in over out bloody heads!" Jack screamed.

"Maybe she'll have an idea," Gibbs suggested.

"And maybe I won't get smacked the next time I suggest something indecent to Dani," Jack said back.

The group nodded in agreement and looked out to sea. Elizabeth would be joining them very soon.

As expected, the woman was totally panicked when she saw the others. Will was still nursing a gash on his arm and Dani had a bruise forming on her cheek. They had tried their best to look as calm as they could, but something in their eyes, along with their injuries, alerted her.

"What happened?" she asked.

No one wanted to answer. Instead, they all turned to Dani.

"What?" Dani asked, shocked at the presence of all eyes on her. "Oh, you want me to…give me some rum first."

Someone passed her a short, fat bottle and she took a hefty swig.

"We have a problem," she said.

"What kind of problem?" Elizabeth asked.

Dani took another swig and continued.

"Barbossa and Beckett are here. And they have our children. In a ring of fire. And Jones' men are here, too. Anything else you need to know?" Dani asked. She didn't mean to make her statement so incomplete, but it was they only way to keep drinking in between. Each pause had contained a swig and now she was swaying slightly while she was looking at Elizabeth.

It took a moment for the reality to set in and when it had, Elizabeth, characteristically, fell into the sand and burst into tears.

Jack rolled his eyes and laid back into the sand.

"We'll sacrifice her to the undeads," Jack said.

"That's not funny, Jack," Elizabeth sobbed.

"It wasn't meant to be," he answered.

Something silently flew through the air and struck Jack in the forehead.

"Hey!" he shouted and threw sand back at Elizabeth.

Suddenly they were nose to nose screaming at each other.

Dani and Will also stood and dragged their respective partners away.

"That was _really _mature, Jack," Dani said.

"She threw something at me first! I _had_ to retaliate."

"Please concentrate on the situation at hand," Dani said. "We need to get the children."

Jack was silent as he sat down in the sand once more. Dani rubbed his shoulders as she tried to formulate a plan.

But it was Jack that had come up with a plan.

"You need to go in as a distraction," Jack said.

"What?"

"You have to go and distract Beckett. He likes you," Jack said, not thinking about what he was saying.

Dani was horrified. Did he understand what this meant? Didn't he remember what Beckett had put her through?

"I can't do that, Jack," she said.

Jack was silent for a beat or two while he thought about what she had said. He then realized _why_ she had almost begun crying.

"Love, I'm sorry," he said. "We'll come up with a different plan."

She sat in the sand next to him and put her head on his shoulder. She was either going to start crying or be sick. Perhaps even both. Dani knew that Jack was right. She was going to have to be the distraction. She would do anything for her daughter and her godchildren. And she _was_ going to do whatever she could.

Jack turned to his wife and looked at her. And it broke his heart to think about what he'd just asked her.

"Love, I'm serious. We'll figure out another plan. I'm careless, I know, but I didn't mean to be _that_ careless," Jack explained.

"I'll do it, but I want someone nearby to help me," she said.

A/N: Okay, this is chapter 15, savvy? And I'm sick, so everyone ought to be really nice and leave lots and lots of reviews.

And anyone who liked the movie Troy ought to read my story "Before the War". Thanks.

Manda


	16. The Plot, and Vegetation, Thickens

Warning: Short Chapter. (But thoroughly needed for the story.)

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 16

Jack and Dani had separated themselves from the group so they wouldn't be overheard. Dani was sitting along the shore, boots to her side, letting the cool, dark waves wash over her toes. Something in her eyes was immediately recognizable. Something very familiar. Jack moved closer and took her hand.

"You're not thinking of drowning yourself, are you?" Jack laughed.

"I'm trying not to throw up, if you must know," she said. "I was feeling rather warm, I needed to cool off."

"Love, I am not forcing you into anything. If you aren't comfortable with this, which you clearly are not, we will devise a second, better plan. One that will keep you out of harm's way," Jack explained.

He was trying his hardest to be gentlemanly and a good husband. He hadn't been thinking when he first mentioned his plan. Now that the reality had finally sunk in, he'd regretted saying anything.

"That's a lovely thought, Jack, but I've never been out of harm's way. It's always been staring me straight in the eye," she answered.

"This is my fault. All of it. You shouldn't have to do this. It should be me that figures this all out."

"Jack, I'm not letting you do this alone," Dani sighed.

They smiled at one another. Both of them knowing they were such fools.

Dani clutched her knees to try and stave off the nausea. The thought of going to Beckett once more truly made her sick. But she knew Jack was right and something had to be done…soon.

She stood and attempted to smooth her dress. It used to be her favorite, a black dress trimmed with red lace, but now it seemed worn and dull. But _everything_ seemed worn and dull.

Dani was also concerned that it wouldn't work. She didn't know I she could fake interest in such a horrible man. And he knew how much she despised him. Beckett scared her so badly that she merely conceded to his advances.

She pulled her boots back on and stood up. Dani looked to the others; they were discussing something amongst themselves and hadn't noticed her standing. Jack followed suit and stood next to his wife.

They spent a moment of intense silence as they looked into each other's eyes.

"C'est la vie, Jack," she said and kissed him on the cheek.

Dani started to walk away, towards the place of their original battle, but Jack grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, hard.

He slipped his pistol into the back of her belt as he kissed her with all of the passion and ferocity he could muster. Dani was left breathless as they parted and she really started to walk into the jungle.

"We'll be following at a distance, love," he said only loud enough for her to hear.

She disappeared into the darkness, Jack's heart breaking with every crunch of her boots in the vegetation.

Jack walked back to the remaining crew and looked at them.

"Where's Dani?" Will asked.

"She…uh…had…to answer the call of nature," he lied, badly.

"Jack," Elizabeth said in her all-knowing manner.

"We're going to need to be going back after the children in a few minutes. Dani has gone in as a…distraction…ahead of us. So let's quickly form a plan of action before I go completely out of my mind," Jack told them.

Will looked at the man before him and could, for once, see the fear in Jack's eyes.

"Let's get ready," Will said, standing up and patting Jack on the shoulder. "Everything'll be fine, Jack."

A/N: Please review.


	17. The Drama is Getting Closer

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 17

Dani solemnly strolled closer and closer to the place where Beckett was making his personal camp. A lump was forming in her throat as she approached and she was actually ill when she saw his form.

Dani spit to get the taste from her mouth and continued to approach the man.

"I never thought you'd come alone," Beckett said.

"I've changed my mind about you. I've come to offer you a trade."

"A trade?" he repeated. "Good for you or good for me?"

"I would say that this will be decidedly good for the both of us," Dani said, trying to produce a come-hither smile.

"All right, what are the terms?" Beckett said, leaning on a near-by tree. He was probably five feet away, but it felt like he was breathing down her neck.

Dani shifted the weight from her right leg to her left leg; making her body form an S-shape that she was hoping was sexy.

"I'll trade you me for the children. Take me in their place," Dani sighed.

"And why would I do that? Your daughter…" he stopped and smiled. "…Is quite possibly more beautiful than you ever were."

Sweat was forming on her brow-line and a dizzy feeling shook her from head to toe.

Beckett started towards her and touched her face. Dani resisted the urge to smack him away and let him.

His hand moved to her throat and lightly clutched it.

"One child may go, you choose," Beckett said, tightening his grip.

"That wasn't the deal," she whispered.

"I _never_ agreed to any deal. Choose!" Beckett said.

"Jack, I chose Jack," she said.

"Interesting choice, not your own daughter. Barbossa!" he shouted.

Seconds later, Barbossa appeared, grumbling.

"Let Jack Turner go, Danielle here has volunteered to stay in his place," Beckett told him.

Barbossa smiled an evil smile.

"Do you want me to lock her up with the others or somewhere else?" Barbossa asked.

"No, leave her with her daughter for the time being. I'll find more permanent accommodations later," Beckett said with a slight wave of his hand.

Barbossa grabbed Dani by the forearm and pulled her away.

Within moments she was reunited with her daughter, Marie and Jack.

Barbossa was about to shackle her when she spoke.

"Please. I'm probably never going to get to hold them ever again, just one hug each?" she asked.

Barbossa laughed. He was sickened at how soft she and her husband had gotten.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Rosemary asked.

"We'll talk later, darling," she said. She hugged her daughter to her chest and kissed her on the cheek.

Next, Dani hugged Marie and tried to quiet the girl's tears. They had erupted at the sight of Dani and proceeded to fall with no sign of ceasing.

"It's all right, Marie. It's fine," she said.

And finally she moved to Jack. Something small and unnoticeable shifted owners behind Jack's back and she whispered in his ear, "Don't let anyone see that, I'm going to want it back later."

Dani backed away and smiled. "Jack, I'm taking your place. You're free to go."

Barbossa locked the shackles around Dani's wrists and Jack was unlocked.

While Barbossa's head was turned, Dani motioned to where the rest of the group should be.

The girls watched as Jack hesitantly walked away. He wasn't sure what was going on and felt totally wrong about leaving the women there without defense.

Barbossa looked at the three women and laughed. After a couple shakes of his head, he continued back to his camp.

"What are you doing, mama?" Rosemary asked.

"I can't tell you specifically, because I don't know. But I trust your father," Dani tried to smile.

"So you don't have a plan," Rosemary said.

"I _did_ have a plan. This is where my part ended and your father's plan begins. Now we wait," Dani told the girls.

"Who are these men, Aunt Dani?" Marie asked.

"The man who tied me up, Hector Barbossa, is the man who instigated a vicious mutiny upon your father, Rosemary."

"Who is the other man?" Rosemary asked her mother.

There was a far away look in Dani's eyes. She didn't want to tell her daughter, but knew she had to.

"He's Lord Cutler Beckett, formerly of the East India Trading Company. He is a very bad man who had held me captive and did terrible things to me. But your father saved me then and he'll do it again."

"Oh, mom," Rosemary said.

"He didn't do anything to either of you, did he?" Dani asked.

"No," the girls answered in unison.

"Good," Dani answered.

Meanwhile, Jack Turner was carefully walking through the jungle, hoping he would find a friendly face. And suddenly, the whole group of them was standing in front of him and scared the living daylights out of him.

"Bloody hell," he cursed.

"Watch your mouth, Jack Turner," Elizabeth scolded him.

"At least he didn't scream like his sister," Jack Sparrow said. "Where are Dani and the others?"

"I'm not exactly sure what happened. The guy with the scraggly beard came and untied me and shackled Aunt Dani to the place where I had been. She hugged me and handed me this dagger. She told me not to lose it because she wanted it back," the younger Jack said.

"So what do we do now, Jack?" Will asked the older Jack.

"We have to kill Barbossa and Beckett, it's as simple and as complicated as that," Jack answered.

"Kill?" the younger Jack asked. The boy looked terrified. He didn't want to have to kill anyone.

"Yes, kill, and unfortunately, you're going to have to do it, mate," Jack Sparrow said, patting the teen on the back. "They've got my wife, daughter, your little bonnie lass, and your sister."

Something that Jack said had an effect on the younger one.

"Son, are you all right?" Will asked his son. "Do you understand what's going on?"

"No, I don't. But I do know that I need to do this. You can explain this whole thing to me later. Let's go," younger Jack told his father.

"I like this boy's plan. Take action first, asks questions later," Jack smiled.

"So what did we learn about Jones' men previously?" Will asked aloud.

"They smell like fish?" Pintel asked.

"They're slimy?" Ragetti said.

"No, they're nothing without their leader. And right now their leaders are Barbossa and Beckett. Kill them and their crew is nothing," Will answered them.

"So which one do we go after first?" James asked.

"Barbossa," they all answered together.

Quickly and quietly they all descended upon the camps.

A/N: Please review. Good stuff to come in the next chapter. Thanks.


	18. There's a Fight in this Chapter!

--Okay, thanks to xRubyDustx for letting me know my error. I very much forgot to include a description of Beckett and Barbossa, who I have deemed "Undead". So I thought I would attempt to explain how I saw this in my head. I imagine them to look "normal". And she (xRubyDustx) asked how someone could know they were undead. I don't really have a response for this because I admit it wasn't a well-thought-out idea. So, please forgive me, and I hope this chapter will answer some questions or another.

Manda

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 18

Jack Turner was searching his mind for a word. No, an emotion. He was looking for a word that would correctly describe the emotion he was feeling right then.

It was a complicated feeling because it was his sister and "aunt" and, as Jack had said earlier, bonny lass, Rosemary.

He wondered if this was how Jack Sparrow and his dad felt all the time. That the fate of the entire world around him was resting on his seventeen year old shoulders.

Vengeful was the word. He was vengeful. He could feel it from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet.

No one said anything as they raided Barbossa's tent. He was snoring loudly, so the entrance of Jack, Jack and Will went unnoticed.

"Go do it," Jack (Sparrow) whispered.

"While he's sleeping? Isn't that wrong?" the younger Jack asked.

"Is it better to kill a man who's awake? Is it any different?" Jack (Sparrow) asked.

Barbossa's snoring destroyed the silence.

"Where should I do it?" Jack (Turner) asked, looking to the dagger.

"Either the throat or the heart," Will answered.

Will was a mixture of upset and proud. His son was turning into a man before his very eyes.

"Has to be the heart," Jack answered. "Undead things must be stabbed in the heart."

"Undead?" Jack (Turner) asked shocked.

"Get on with it. I'll explain later," Jack (Sparrow) answered.

Jack hesitated no longer and firmly stuck the dagger into Barbossa's heart.

Barbossa's eyes shot open and he started to grasp at air with clawed hands. His body began to rapidly decay. Barbossa's skin became gray and withered. His eyes seemed to stick out because his skin shrank away. A smell, stronger than that of a pirate, filled the tent. Within a matter of seconds, any life that had once again in Barbossa was gone. For the first time he was a corpse.

"We'll have to burn that body so he can't ever come back again," Will said.

"Good thinking, mate," Jack Sparrow whispered. "Let's go get the girls."

They crept slowly around the camp, not through it, so as to avoid anyone who might still be awake.

Jack Sparrow, sneaking the best he could, despite him never being quiet and his height, made his way over to his wife.

" 'ello, love," Jack smiled.

"I thought you'd never come," Dani smiled back.

Rosemary and Marie had slumped down and fallen asleep so the adults were able to speak freely.

"So what's the plan?" Dani asked.

"I'm going to unshackle you and the girls, but you're going to act as though you're still locked up. Then you'll call for Beckett and we all ambush him," Jack answered.

"So Barbossa is dead?" she whispered.

"Yes, love. Dead, again," Jack answered her. He did something and the shackles fell open.

"I've always admired your ability to pick locks," Dani smiled and rubbed her wrists now that they were unbound.

"I forgot to tell you earlier how lovely that dress is on you," Jack said from down at the shackles at her ankles. Quickly his head went under the hem of her dress. "But it would be more lovely on the ground."

"Jack!" she whispered very loudly.

His head darted out just in time as his daughter's eyes opened as well as Marie's. He immediately had his hand over his daughter's mouth.

"Follow your mother's lead. And for the love of rum, don't do anything stupid," he said, picking the locks on Rosemary and Marie.

Jack walked back to where Will and Jack were waiting. The other group of them was waiting on the other side of the camp, preparing for a battle.

When Dani was sure everyone was out of sight, she began to scream.

"Lord Beckett!" she called over and over again until his head popped out of his tent.

He took several quick, long strides and was in her face in seconds.

"What do you want?" he asked angrily.

"I was hoping to wake the dead," she replied sarcastically. "I was hoping to have a word…alone," she motioned with her head to the tent.

Beckett's evil smile returned.

"Why the sudden change?" Beckett asked, leaning forward to get a better look at her cleavage.

"Why don't we go to your tent and I'll tell you _all_ about it," Dani said.

Beckett let her get the best of him and started to move towards the shackles.

The girls jumped in surprise when Dani's boot collided with the side of Beckett's face.

Beckett went down hard before he really realized what was going on.

"Barbossa!" he yelled.

"Barbossa won't be able to help you now, mate," Jack said, standing over him.

They allowed Beckett to stand so a proper battle could occur.

Will moved the girls away out of the fight that was occurring between Jack and Beckett.

"Now, I was sure that we were done, Beckett. You were hanged, life was good," Jack said as he and Beckett were rounding on one another.

"Please, I will stop at nothing to bring you down, Sparrow," Beckett answered. "We have too much history."

"Do you still have the 'P' brand on your ass?" Jack laughed and blocked the man's swing with his own sword.

"Teaching your children to lie, great job as a father, Jack. And you're attempting to teach them murder, that's a wonderful addition."

"Even undead you are annoying," Jack said to Beckett.

"Well, Sparrow, desperate measures had to be taken when all of our attempts to rid ourselves of you failed," Beckett answered.

The children were totally confused. Beckett was dead? Or undead? They thought he looked completely alive.

They were also in awe at the quick, alert movements Jack Sparrow was making. Usually, he's clouded, and not exactly the fastest person around. Right now, Jack Sparrow had fully redeemed himself in his daughter's eyes and was no longer the lazy father she though he was.

And without warning, Dani and Will had joined the fight.

"Now this is unfair. I'm outnumbered," Beckett said.

"We're pirates. We don't have to play fair," Dani laughed.

Beckett was fighting remarkably well, but the three pirates fought better.

In the next moment, they had tricked him and knocked him to the ground.

"You can't kill me," Beckett laughed maniacally.

"We don't intend to," Will replied.

Beckett wildly swung his sword around, hoping to hit someone as he tried to stand. As soon as he had gained some headway in the process of standing, Dani kicked out and her boot met his shoulder. Dramatically he fell backwards once more.

Jack and Will descended upon him and held him down to the ground.

"Now, boy!" Jack shouted.

Jack Turner came running up from behind the girls and plunged the dagger into Beckett.

Jones' men finally came running at the sounds of Beckett's struggle but it was far too late.

He was decaying quickly, just like Barbossa. Within seconds it seemed Beckett's body had been decaying in water for days and the rotting flesh smell was drifting past each one of them.

Jones' men also appeared to die, but much less dramatically. They turned to water and formed into one large puddle. At least something was easy for Jack's crew.

Suddenly, the silence was overwhelming. Dani rushed to the girls who she could hear softly sobbing. Elizabeth was also there, hugging her daughter.

Will and Jack started at each other; the reality sinking in. They've turned a child into a murderer.

"So, where do we go from here?" Jack (Turner) asked.

"Where is that treasure map?" Jack (Sparrow) asked back.

A/N: Okay. There was _some_ good stuff. Let me know what you think! Thanks!


	19. Stories

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 19

After a bit of rest, Jack, Will, and company made their way back to the rowboats.

No one spoke as they walked down the beach, climbed into the longboats, or the entire trip back to _The Adventurer_.

Elizabeth held her children's hands and Rosemary propped her head on Dani's shoulder. It was going to be a very long night for everyone.

When they reached the two ships, James Norrington boarded the _HMS Edwards_ to fight the map that they so desperately needed now.

Dani and Elizabeth put their children to bed and went to meet with their husband's and the rest of the crew. They found the people they were looking for on the main deck; everyone was waiting for Jack to speak.

But Dani chose to speak up first. "I would just like to thank everyone for helping us find the children. We couldn't have done this without you."

They all generally smiled in her direction and turned back to Jack.

"Er, yes, thank you," he said. "And now, to business."

"We seem to be very much going in the totally wrong direction," Jack told them.

"By how much are we going in the wrong direction?" James asked.

"Well, you know north? Imagine going south instead. Technically, we could get there from here, but it's considered taking the long way 'round."

"So we have to turn around?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, I think that would be the best solution to our particular problem," Jack said, slightly taken aback at Elizabeth's obvious question.

"What'll we do with the _HMS Edwards_?" Dani asked, trying to distract Jack.

"Norrie…" Jack started.

"I do hate it…" James argued.

"Oh, shut up. You can have part of my crew and you can follow me to the treasure," Jack finally finished.

"Excuse me if I don't quite trust you," James answered.

"You're excused," someone shouted.

"What reason have I given you not to trust me?" Jack asked. "Lately?" he added as an afterthought.

James had no response, and so the discussion continued.

"Anyone want to volunteer before I randomly choose?" Jack asked.

Six or seven, no one thoroughly counted; people raised their hands and moved towards Norrington.

"I don't trust you, Sparrow, but I trust Danielle. So let's go, men."

"Ahem?" a feminine voice said.

"And Arabella. Oh, someone needs to go get Charlie."

"I'm right here," he said as he stood from behind some cargo.

"Shh!" Andy said and tugged on his sleeve.

"Are you all back there?" Dani asked while placing her hands on her hips and moving towards their hiding place.

The other four stood up and tried to look as innocent as possible.

"You've heard everything?" Will asked.

"Yes, father," Marie answered.

"SO, what do you want to know?" Jack asked.

Everyone settled down and several stories were mentioned by various people as options.

"Just start at the beginning," Rosemary said.

"What beginning? We've had several," Elizabeth smiled.

"How about the mutiny? Were you there, mama?" Rosemary asked.

"Yes, I was there. Jack, would you care to tell the story? No one tells it like you do," Dani answered.

"Oh, of course. It all began when I received a little piece of information from a friend of a friend of cousin twice removed on my mother's side…"

"Jack," Dani interrupted.

"No, it was Sherman or Sheldon. I don't know. Anyway, it was a bit of information that would lead me to the Isla de Muerta. You see, it's impossible to reach unless you know the way; it's not on any map. And Dani had just joined me crew and we were having a wonderful time pillaging and plundering. Barbossa, my first mate, got jealous, being that he was very ugly and your mother here is very beautiful…"

"Just get on with the story," Dani sighed in an embarrassed way.

By dawn, most of the crew had fallen asleep, but the children had made it all night listening to Jack's long-winded, slightly made-up story. They thoroughly enjoyed every bit, finally understanding their parents.

A/N: Okay, that was my chapter. It was short. I know. Please don't hurt me. Gummi bears and cherry Slurpees for those who review. (And where I work, that would come to a total of $6.75, so consider it a priviledge.)


	20. Untitled

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 20

The next day, Jack read the map then passed out. Dani tucked him into bed and smiled; she thought it was amazing that he'd made it this long.

The crew of _The Adventurer_ was given a heading and they signaled the message to the _HMS Edwards_. They each turned themselves around and started heading in the opposite direction.

Dani and Elizabeth handed out chores for the children. When they groaned and complained that they had almost been killed, a lecture is what they received.

"Now, I understand that pirates and treasure maps are very intriguing…" Elizabeth started.

"But that doesn't mean you can all run off whenever you want and pretend it's a game," Dani finished.

"It was our fault for not hiding the maps better…"

"But what in your little heads said it would be all right to steal a ship of the King's fleet and sail off, pretending to be pirates," Dani said.

"But…"

"No, no, no. There are no excuses. For as much as we all love being pirates and the whole lifestyle that comes along with it, but you are children. Children that need permission to do things," Will said.

The four children in front of them hung their heads in shame.

Rosemary burst into tears and, instead of turning to her mother, she buried her face in Jack's shoulder. Jack glared out at his father in anger.

The adults were stunned into silence.

Dani stormed off. Elizabeth and Will stood staring at one another.

"You go, I'm just in the mood to deal with this," Elizabeth said.

Will cast one last dirty look back at his son and went to find Danielle.

"Now, I'm in charge. All four of you, in a line, right now!" she shouted. "While I joined Jack and Danielle rather late in their pirating, I am still very much like them. Now you will do each and everything I say, with out complaint. Or life will become much, much worse than it is now. Do I make myself clear?"

The four children nodded silently.

"Jack and Andy, you two go help Mr. Gibbs up on the Captain's deck and do whatever he says. Marie, go downstairs and I'll meet you down there to prepare our meal. Rosemary, go and tidy the cabins, then meet Marie and I in the galley."

Jack moved to hug Rosemary once more and Elizabeth stopped them.

"No. None of this," she waved her hands at them. "No more until we've _all_ had a discussion. No touching of any kind, savvy?" she asked.

Andy and Jack made their way up to find Gibbs and both the girls went in their respective directions.

Elizabeth smiled to herself. She could still be tough. Of course, she knew she could do anything she wanted to, but every once in a while she needed to prove it.

Danielle was completely and totally angry and she was very much over reacting to the situation. Her face was red with embarrassment over her reaction. But she knew what girls did with boys. And where was Jack during all of this? Asleep. She needed to speak to him, and he was passed out cold.

She was stomping around his cabin and his eye never even twitched.

Will followed her into the cabin. She was ignoring him, though.

"Are you all right?" he asked, already realizing what she was trying to do.

"No, yes…maybe…" Dani answered.

"What do you suppose when on?" Will asked, looking at the snoring Jack.

"That is a question I don't particularly care to answer, William," she sniped.

"She doesn't appear to be…" he started. But he was stopped by cold steel meeting his throat.

Dani had a cutlass to Will's throat.

"One more semblance of a syllable and your head will roll," she said. "And your son's head will follow."

"I apologize, Danielle. I meant nothing by it. I thought it might lighten the situation. Clearly, I was wrong. Please put the sword down," he asked. Despite having a very sharp sword next to his throat, he remained calm. That calm helped Dani and she lowered the cutlass. She dropped it on the floor and hugged Will.

"Between Lizzie and I, how do you stay sane?"

"Will power," he laughed.

"Oh, that's awful," Dani answered him. "I need to go talk to my daughter."

"I think that's a very good idea. I am going to have a talk with my son as well,"

Dani and Will left the room and sleeping Jack to go find their children.

Rosemary was making the bed in the third and final cabin. She had finally stopped shaking from anger when her mother barged into the room. Rosemary was told to sit and she immediately complied.

"We need to have a conversation," Dani said.

"Yes," Rosemary answered.

"How far has this 'relationship' gone with Jack?" Dani asked.

"What do you mean?" Rosemary asked back. She wasn't trying to be difficult; she just genuinely didn't understand what her mother was asking.

"To make a very long story short, what have you done with Jack?" she asked her daughter.

"We kissed," she said dreamily.

"Is that all?" Dani asked her.

"Yes, mother. I promise," Rosemary said.

Dani rocked back on her heels and breathed a sigh of relief. That was a much better response than she thought she would receive.

She hugged her daughter, but was interrupted by Jack, Will's son, barging into the room.

"I'm going to sail on the _HMS Edwards_, are you coming with me?" he asked Rosemary.

"What?"

Will came storming into the room moments later.

"We are not done discussing this," Will said.

"Oh, yes. We are," Jack answered his father and pushed past him to leave the room.

A/N: Please review. Thanks.


	21. I Love Him

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 21

When Jack finally arose around sunset, he felt moderately refreshed. But quickly, the semi-relaxation he was feeling dissipated. His crew had been doing their jobs, but his family unit was all shouting at one another.

Rosemary and Will were shouting at Jack. Marie was scolding Andy for some reason or another and Dani was trying to console a sobbing Lizzie.

"What in the bloody hell is going on around here?" Jack's distinctive voice boomed. "I go lie down for a few hours and I wake up to anarchy."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up to Jack. The only sounds were the waves crashing against the hull of the ship and Elizabeth's sniffling.

Jack looked to the only seemingly normal, sane person. "Danielle?" he asked.

She moved from behind Elizabeth. "Yes, Jack?"

"What happened?" he asked her once she was next to him.

"Well, William and young Jack here got into it and now Jack would prefer to sail on the _HMS Edwards_ with James," she explained.

"That explains your reaction, as well as yours," he said as he pointed to Will and Elizabeth. "But," he turned to Rosemary, "why are you doing whatever it is you're doing?"

Rosemary blushed from the roots of her brown hair to the tips of her toes.

The whole crew strained to hear her response.

"I…I love him. And if he goes, I go," she answered her father.

Jack's face contorted into a shocked and moderately amused expression. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound ever came out. Jack turned his eyes to Dani who shrugged as her only response. But Jack did notice that her normally red lips were pale and pursed, as if trying to keep herself from saying something.

He then looked around to his crew and they immediately went back to their end of the day duties. At least his crew never wandered around mooning over one another.

"Well, I am captain of this ship and I m the last word in who stays and who goes. If you leave my ship, you are guilty of mutiny," Jack said.

"But we aren't members of your crew. We never signed your articles," Jack (Turner) shouted back.

"Mr. Gibbs, the articles!" he called. Jack's next move was to step down and get into the boy's face. "You shout at me, or anyone else on board this ship and I'll feed you to the sharks, savvy? No one talks to my crew like that except me."

Jack (Sparrow) began to pace as he waited for the articles. He was only moderately certain of his next movie.

Gibbs returned a short while later, huffing and puffing, with an old leather-bound book in hand.

"You want to sign the articles and become your own man? So be it. But be sure to read them carefully," Jack smiled.

Jack Turner took the book and was surrounded immediately by the adults.

He parted the leather-bound covers and looked at the very neatly written words.

_1. Lights and candles to be put out at eight o'clock at night. If any of the crew after that hour still remained inclined for drinking, they were to do it on the open deck._

Jack continued down the page. Under the first was written in chicken scratch:

_Unless I want to do otherwise._

_-Captain J. Sparrow_

_2. No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them. If any man were found seducing any of the latter sex, and carried her to sea disguised, he was to suffer death._

Underneath that was written:

_Unless I say so._

_-Captain J. Sparrow_

_3. No person to game at cards or dice, for money, but rum is considered fair currency_.

_4. No striking one another on board but every man's quarrels to be ended on shore, at sword and pistol. _

_5. Every man shall obey civil command; the captain shall have one full share and a half in all prizes; the Master, Carpenter, Boatswain, and Gunner shall have one share and a quarter._

_6. If any man shall offer to run away, or keep any secret from the company, he shall be marooned with one bottle of water, one bottle of powder, one small arm and shot._

_7. That man that shall strike another while these Articles are in force, shall receive Moses' Law (that is 40 stripes lacking one) on the bare back._

_8. If any man shall steal anything in the company or game, to the value of a piece of Eight, he shall be marooned or shot._

_9. That man that shall not keep his arms clean, fit for an engagement, or neglect his business shall be cut off from his share, and suffer such other punishment as the Captain and the company shall think fit._

_10. No man to talk of breaking up their way of living, till each had shared 1000! If in order to this any man should lose a limb, or become a cripple in their service, he was to have 800 dollars, out of the public stock, and for lesser hurts, proportionately._

Two other things were added at the end in the same awful handwriting as before.

_11. I, as the Captain of the Black Pearl, have every right and reason to be evasive when asked any and all questions. And I have the right to, on occasion, to act erratically without regard for others._

_12. Any and all undead humans, animals, or any other organism is cleared to be used, expressly permitted and highly encouraged to be used as a target is to be treated as unwelcome. They must be destroyed at all costs._

Jack Turner looked up to the adults that surrounded him.

"If I sign these, I only have to listen to your orders?" he asked Captain Jack.

Jack (Sparrow) looked utterly confused and looked to Will and Elizabeth for a proper answer. Will nodded and Jack answered yes.

Jack (Turner) took the pen from Dani and signed his name underneath his father's. His eyes strained in the dim light, but he could almost make out 'Bill Turner' scrawled on the page.

"Yes, that's your grandfather's signature," Will said.

"All right, Captain," Jack handed the book and pen back to Dani. "What are my orders?"

Jack smiled an evil, devilish smile. "Your orders…are to report to your father. I've just put you back under his loving and caring jurisdiction. That is all."

"You all tricked me. That isn't fair!" he shouted.

"I told you to read carefully," Jack said, climbing the stairs to his wheel.

"I did!" he shouted again, moving to follow his captain.

"What did I say about shouting?" Captain Jack turned around and said into the boy's face.

"I…" the boy stammered.

Jack (Sparrow) was also at a loss for words. "Well…You have your orders. Now go before I have you locked in the hold for insubordination."

Jack (Turner) turned around on the stairs and everyone was looking at him. He retreated to his sleeping quarters and settled in for the rest of the night.

"Now that I've completely alienated my son, what are we doing now?" Will asked.

Jack turned and looked at Will.

"He'll come around, mate. I promise. And if he doesn't, we can somehow force him out. As for this evening, I suggest everyone thinks about getting some sleep. Someone get me…" he started, but was interrupted by the very thing he wanted. A green glass bottle touched his rough hands.

"You're going to need this after the conversation that we are going to have," Dani said and took a long swig of her own.

A/N: Please review. I like reviews.


	22. Oh, Bugger

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 21

Dani had gotten Rosemary, Marie and Andy in bed and retreated back to Jack.

Jack was holding the wheel with one hand and a bottle of rum in the other.

Danielle looked up to the half-moon in the sky and absentmindedly shivered.

"Here, love," he said and somehow managed to shrug his coat off and hand it to her without dropping his rum.

"Thank you," she said as she pulled it on.

"So what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" he asked, taking another swig of rum.

"I would rather know what's going on in our daughter's pretty little head," Dani answered.

"What happened to make young Jack want to leave his own family, specifically William?"

"Will told me that he'd said something about forbidding Jack to court Rosemary. There was an accusation of actions not so forthcoming of a young man, except perhaps you. Jack had a problem with this accusation, which we now know to be untrue, based on Rosemary's response and then the three-way argument began," Dani said.

"Young Turner is a good boy, I see no reason why he shouldn't court Rosemary," Jack answered.

"I don't suppose he's the problem. I think William might have been saying something about Rosemary," Danielle said.

"What about Rosemary?" Jack asked.

"I suppose he doesn't think Rosemary is proper for his son. I don't blame him. Look at her parents," she said, motioning to herself and Jack.

"What is wrong with our daughter?"

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong. But perhaps William would prefer Jack looked outside our strange group for a mate?" Dani answered.

"But you must know what young men and women do when you forbid them to do something?"

"I do, Jack," she said, moving closer.

"They do something stupid," Jack smiled and kissed his wife passionately. This went on for some time until Jack suddenly stopped and ducked down, tugging on Dani's arm.

"What the…" Dani started.

"Shhh!" he shout-whispered and pointed down to the main deck.

Jack and Rosemary were sharing a bottle of rum and holding hands.

"They _are_ lovely together," Dani smiled.

But then something not so lovely occurred. They kissed, just like Jack and Dani had done only moments earlier.

Jack (Sparrow) couldn't control himself and started down the stairs to the main deck.

"Aha!" he shouted.

Now Dani, Will, Elizabeth and various other crew members were used to Jack's sudden outbursts, random, confusing statements, and most of all: wild accusations, while in (or out) of a drunken stupor.

But the children had never seen his before and both shrieked and tried to run away.

Jack Sparrow stumbled down the last few steps and made his way over to the teens.

"You were spying on us!" Rosemary shouted.

"No, love," Jack started. "You were spying on us."

Dani had joined her husband and tried to look as calm as possible.

A disgusted look came upon Rosemary and Jack's faces when the realization hit.

Obviously, Jack saw nothing wrong with wanting to make love to his wife. He loved her and thought it was perfectly natural, even though he was technically almost sixty years old.

"Rosemary, Jack, please to back to your separate rooms,' Dani said in a tight, stressed out tone.

"No, no, no. We are all going to have a conversation," Jack said as they started to stand. "Please make yourselves comfortable."

Both teens sat back on the wooden deck and passed nervous glances between them.

"Now, I don't have a problem with you courting my daughter. I don't hate you…right now. You come from good, strong stock; I sailed with your grandfather, Bootstrap. But…from what I understand, your father has a problem with it. And therefore, I encourage a relationship. Because it'll make William mad. And I _do _love to make William mad."

"Jack!" Dani shouted.

"You're in for it now, dad," Rosemary said.

"Did you understand nothing during our discussion earlier?" Dani shouted. "Go to your rooms!" she yelled at Jack and Rosemary.

The two children rushed to stand up and get out of the way of Dani, whose face was turning red.

Jack and Dani stared at one another; Jack was trying to look as innocent as possible and to keep from laughing and Danielle was trying to keep herself from exploding.

"What has Will ever done to you?" she asked.

There was silence while Jack pondered the question.

"That was a rhetorical question," she said.

"He doesn't want my daughter with his son. That is problem enough," he finally answered.

"Think practically, Jack. You've just openly and willingly given them permission to…" she finished speaking with her hands.

"Oh, bugger."

"Less rum before family decisions, savvy?" she said. "And you'd probably better go tell Will, you damn fool."

"Next port we'd better not let them out of sight," Jack told her.

"Next port? We need to keep them under lock and key today, tomorrow and forever."

"That's what my parents tried to do and look at me," he said, spinning in a circle and holding his arms out so she could get a good look.

"Who are you arguing in favor of? Because I'm this close to locking you up, too," Dani smiled.

"I love you, too?" he asked slowly.

"Now, go tell Will," she said, kissing him quickly and pushing him away.

He started to move across the deck and Dani moved up to the wheel.

"Jack!" she shouted.

He bolted back to where his wife was standing.

"What's wrong?" he said. "What happened?"

"There's land on the horizon," she said, pointing.

"All right, keep us in that direction. We should be nearing it around noon," he told her. He smiled and turned back around to go find William.

In that second, he'd made a very important decision, but he'd tell Dani later. Jack had to go find Will.

A/N: Please review. I love reviews. I promise better piratey goodness in the next chapters. And if you review, I'll share my wonderful warm brownies with everyone.


	23. A Shot Rang Out!

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 23

Jack stayed up the whole night trying to create a plan of action. He always enjoyed watching the sunrise and the sunset and staying up always was conducive to seeing one or the other. There was something so comforting and familiar about the sunrise and sunset.

Jack was in his own little world contemplating this when his daughter approached him.

"Dad?" Rosemary asked.

She got no response.

"Dad?" she tried again.

Jack had been silent all morning. He only spoke long enough to give out his orders. He had then climbed up to the Captain's deck and stared off to sea.

The second 'dad' seemed to have startled him. He spun around, eyes wild and then tried to look as nonchalant as possible when he realized it was just his child.

"What?" he said.

"Mom wanted me to ask if you wanted something to eat."

"I'm fine. Thanks, love," Jack answered.

Rosemary retreated, completely dumbfounded at her father. She was beginning to think that something might be seriously be wrong with her father.

The reason Jack had crawled back into his shell was because: one, he'd made Will mad and Will mad was fun for only a little bit, then it was a burden because Will got annoying, and two: he knew this was going to be the last treasure hunt, last piratical adventure, last hurrah, for a good long time, perhaps forever.

Captain Jack Sparrow was going to be hanging up his hat for a while.

An awful thought crossed his mind then. He would probably outlive his children. Jack grimaced at the thought and shook his head. This was awful.

But he couldn't force his children to become immortal. In fact, it was a bad idea to even mention it. Eventually though, someone was going to want a real answer.

The island was getting closer and details were becoming clearer.

"Is that green sand?" Jack (Turner) asked his father.

"Yes. I believe so," Will answered after taking the time to look.

"Why would it be green?" Andy asked.

"I'm not sure," Will said.

"Let go the anchor!" Jack (Sparrow) shouted and interrupted their conversation. "Prepare the longboats."

Dani and Elizabeth were mending a sail when they heard Jack. Now it was their job to signal the _HMS Edwards_.

Jack clomped down the wooden stairs and gathered the crew near the main mast.

"Who volunteers to stay behind with the children?" Jack asked.

The children opened their mouths to protest; that they wanted to go with their parents to the island. But Will spoke instead.

"I would say you, but I don't want you alone with my children," Will said.

"Excuse me?" Jack said, turning to his direct left and staring Will right in the eye.

"You heard me," Will answered.

Instantly, the men had swords drawn and were circling one another. Will lunged and Jack blocked. Then Jack lunged and Will blocked. The crew had been in a tight group gathered to listen for their orders, and was now scrambling to back out of the way. The crew knew both Jack and Will were excellent swordsmen, so this could potentially end very badly. Fortunately, neither was getting anywhere.

So, resigned to being an audience, they began to hoot and holler. They knew cheering them on was a bad idea, but it seemed like the thing to do at the time.

Danielle and Elizabeth ran up when the yelling started.

By the time the women had reached the group, Will had managed to slice off Jack's coat sleeve and Jack had slashed Will's pant leg from the knee down.

Dani shook her head at the sight of the men fighting like children. And now she had more mending to do.

Danielle's first move was to fire a shot into the air. The crew looked dumbfounded, but Jack and Will continued to attempt to kill one another.

Elizabeth moved next. She drew someone's sword and moved into the fight.

"Stay out of this, Elizabeth!" Will shouted while successfully blocking another one of Jack's random swings.

"Yes, Lizzie, stay out of this. It's ours to deal with," Jack answered, breathing hard.

"Oh, really?" Elizabeth said, turning to Jack. In one swift move, she clocked him on the back of the head with the handle of the sword. Jack collapsed to the ground as Will laughed. That is, until Dani punched him square in the nose.

Five minutes later, Jack was regaining consciousness and Will was nursing his bloody nose. The crew had gone back to their duties, because they were a good crew and paid no more attention to the situation. The children, though, stood staring in the wake of the violence.

"Do you want to handle this or shall I?" Dani asked Elizabeth.

"Oh, I'm so tired of lecturing. You go right ahead," Elizabeth answered. Ignoring her husband, she also took Dani's hand and looked at the purple bruises forming. "You have a hard face, Will," she said.

Dani turned to Jack who was rubbing the back of his head. "You," she pointed with her other hand.

An 'oh, bugger' look crossed Jack's face.

"You are completely ridiculous. Please apologize to your best friend for intentionally trying to piss him off, savvy?"

Now Jack wasn't one to apologize for anything, even when he was truly sorry. So this wasn't on his list of priorities for any of his next lives.

"Do I _have_ to?" Jack whined.

"Yes," Elizabeth and Dani hissed.

"Sounds like steam escaping," Will said under his breath.

"Quiet you," Elizabeth said.

"Sorry," Jack mumbled.

"What was that?" Dani asked.

"Sorry, William," Jack said, slightly clearer.

"Thank you," Dani said, smiling.

Dani then turned to William, whose nose was finally ceasing to gush blood and was starting to dry, leaving two reddish lines running down either side of his mouth.

"Oh, damn," Will sighed when he saw the look on her face.

"One, how could you be _stupid_ enough to let Jack get to you? And two, is it true that you would prefer Jack and Rosemary to not be involved in a romantic way?" Dani asked.

"You know as well as I do, maybe more so, that sometimes Jack can get under your skin. This did it. And I only said that it was a bad idea for both parties involved at such a young age. I didn't forbid it totally, just for the present, when emotions weren't running rampant," Will answered.

"Are we done then? Everyone as happy as they can possibly be?" Dani asked.

No one answered her.

"Well, then fake it because we are bloody well going to the island and everyone better bloody well like it!" Elizabeth shouted.

And with that said, the crew finished packing things into the longboats and started to lower them into the water. The next few hours were going to be very important.

A/N: Please review. Thanks to everyone who reviews. I know I'm awful at sending replies back, but I want to let each and everyone know that I appreciate all the reviews and the time it takes for you to write them. It's nice to know someone cares about the writing I do. So, thank you.

Amanda


	24. Treasure Hunt Pt 1

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 24

After being outsmarted and out-fought by their wives, Jack and Will sat back and allowed themselves to take their orders. Neither of them wanted to see Danielle or Elizabeth angry in the near, or distant, future.

So now the crew, except the children and their selected chaperones, was separated into two groups. Will and Elizabeth headed one longboat, while Dani and Jack were in charge of the other. Both men, however, were being very quiet.

Elizabeth didn't feel bad at al for treating her husband the way she did. And she felt actual joy when she had told Jack what to do. It was almost as the same feeling she got when she shackled him to the mast of the _Pearl_. She turned to Danielle, whose boat was two or three feet away and smiled. Danielle sent a pained smile back in her direction. Clearly things were not good in the other boat either.

"Jack?" Dani asked.

He was too busy pouting to answer her.

"How's your head?" she asked.

He subconsciously rubbed at it and answered her, "I am not speaking to you."

"So what are you doing now?" Dani asked.

Jack crossed his arms and leaned back in one flamboyant movement, causing the boat to rock.

"Oh, Jack," she said, pouting like him.

She moved closer and kissed him passionately, not caring who was looking. Jack first attempted to ignore his wife and her…_delicious_…mouth. He found himself being pulled deeper into the kiss, being enveloped into each sweet layer. Their tongues met and tangled, dancing back and forth. Jack's fingers laced into Danielle's hair as he moaned in pleasure.

When they finally broke apart, they noticed that everyone was looking at them. Elizabeth and Will had stopped their conversation and Norrington, whose boat was coming around the port side of the _HMS Edwards_, was craning his neck to see.

No one said anything as the trip to shore progressed. Jack sat back once more, but this time smiled. He didn't care whether or not they found treasure on the bloody island; he just wanted to get Danielle alone.

It only took about fifteen minutes from ship to shore. The water had been calm and a crystal clear blue, making for a safe passage. And everyone on board the longboats shared the idea that it was about damn time something was uneventful. They were just hoping the trip to the treasure was the same.

Jack waited until everyone was out of the longboats and had stretched to produce the map.

He eyed it with an air of caution, suddenly remembering where he had gotten it. He smiled to himself.

"Sparrow, why are you grinning like an idiot?" Norrington asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"This map was given to me by Blackbeard himself," Jack answered. 

"Blackbeard?" Norrington laughed. "Not John Silver?"

"Of course Blackbeard. John Silver was a slimy git with no head for fashion. Silver was never in style…" Jack trailed off.

"Maybe we should get a move on, we're losing daylight," Elizabeth said.

"Right-o," Jack answered. "Gather 'round gents, lady and Dani."

Everyone immediately noticed the whole island was colored green, except for three red squiggles and a red circle that appeared to be paths to the treasure in the center.

"Blackbeard was never much of an artist," Jack smiled.

"Blackbeard drew this map?" Will asked. "And it sat in a crate in my shop? Unharmed and un-looked for?"

"No one thinks this treasure exists. And if Lizzie hadn't been so light in the fingers, and head, we could have gone ages ago. The children would have never have gone on their own and we wouldn't be half starved like we are now," Jack ranted.

"I gave it to Elizabeth to hide," Danielle spoke up.

Jack spun on his heel, dirty finger in Dani's face.

"Choose your words wisely, Sparrow," Danielle warned.

He chose to cast an angry, exasperated glare. Jack then turned his attention back to the red lines. He tried to remember what was said about the _red lines_.

"There was something about these," he said to no one in particular. "It was something really bad or something really good. Anyway, it says that we should go this way to the central area of the island."

Jack started heading in a southern direction along the coast.

"Don't we need to go this way?" James asked.

"Right," Jack said and turned around.

They started in the direction of the trees.

It was a deceptively safe-looking island. Something about its cool breeze and large stretch of palm trees and beach grass made it seem extremely comfortable.

"Andy made me promise him that if there's a dragon, I have to go back and get him so he can see it," Dani smiled.

"When will he ever learn? There's no such thing as dragons," Jack said in an off-hand manner. He seemed completely oblivious, or at least unfazed, about the fantastic evens that dotted his life. Especially the part of his life that culminated in a deal and a fight to the death with a squid-faced devil called Davy Jones.

Everyone shrugged off his comment and continued into the jungle of palms. Everyone was shocked at the beauty of it all.

"You know the treasure is said to not actually exist," James said.

"What? Oh. No, Blackbeard wouldn't lie about this. Good old Edward Teach…" Jack said while making a face.

"What's the face about?" Elizabeth asked.

"I just never thought I would use the words 'Edward Teach' and 'good' in the same sentence together."

"Isn't he going to want his treasure?" Pintel asked.

"R-r-right, what if we take it and he…what if he wants it back?" Ragetti stuttered. He was shaking so bad that his wooden eye fell out and made a plopping noise in the sand.

"Aren't you supposed to be a rough, rugged, manly pirate?" Jack said in his usual slur.

The two men nodded, not sure where this was going.

"So why are you so worried about Blackbeard coming after us? Besides, Edward Teach, our man, is dead."

"D-d-dead?" Ragetti asked.

"Is there an echo? Yes, dead. D-E-D dead."

Jack had stopped the crew while he was leading the discussion.

"What happened?" Elizabeth asked.

"He was shot down and decapitated…" James started.

"Is this a treasure hunt or story time?" Jack asked angrily.

"I think we should split into two groups, maybe three," Dani suggested.

"Yes, that is a good idea. Dani, you're with me. Elizabeth and William you take that path and then Ragetti and, what's your name again?" Jack asked, pointing to Pintel.

"I'm Pintel, cap'n," he answered.

"Well, you go with your one-eyed friend and take the third path. Can the rest of you split yourselves up?" Jack asked, not really paying attention. "All right! Let's go."

Everyone drew their swords and headed in their respective directions. Hopefully, they would all meet in the middle around the treasure, as soon as possible.

A/N: Please review. I _love_ reviews.

And I also love working at a movie theater. I get to stare at the AWE Pirates banner everyday and the new Captain Jack poster. Not to mention I just got our DMC one-sheet official poster! My collection of the official standee and poster is now complete. Devilish laugh


	25. Treasure Hunt Pt 2

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 25

Jack and Dani were left to themselves as a team. No one seemed to want to go with them. Perhaps they were afraid of what might happen between the captain and his wife. Or maybe Jack was acting too strangely, but whatever the reason, they were walking by themselves into their part of the jungle.

Jack actually preferred to be alone with his wife. He had an ulterior motive for scaring everyone off: Jack fancied a roll in the proverbial hay with Dani. He figured she didn't object to going off alone because she wanted the same thing.

But Jack was sadly disappointed as Dani was quickly slashing through the dense vegetation ahead of her.

Jack had no idea how to approach the subject of a "quickie" with his wife so he slowed down and though about it.

When he looked up, after only taking five minutes, Dani was completely out of sight.

"Bugger!"

He started off in her direction, or what he hoped was her direction, but something kicked him hard in the ass.

"What the bloody hell?" Jack shouted.

He spun around and was greeted by a kick to the shins by a wild-eyed Dani.

She unsheathed her sword and began to uncharacteristically swing and slash in Jack's direction.

Dumbfounded, Jack also pulled out his sword and began to defend himself against his wife.

It was easy to see; something made Danielle very mad and made her forget how to wield a sword. It only took seconds for Jack to knock the sword out of her hands.

Just as quickly has Dani had appeared, the woman was gone; leaving Jack completely astonished and confused.

So Jack continued on his path, trying to figure out what had gotten into Danielle.

Dani had continued walking, thinking that Jack would catch up eventually. Right on time, he showed, but had his pistol aimed right at Danielle's forehead.

"Jack?" she asked. "What's going on?"

She had just drawn her pistol when another Jack appeared.

Dani felt faint. What the hell was going on?

"Couldn't resist attacking me again?" Jack, whom had just strolled up, asked.

"What?" Dani asked.

Suddenly, with a 'pop' noise, the other Jack was gone.

"What just happened?" Jack asked.

"I haven't the faintest idea," Dani answered.

"Should we just keep going?" Jack asked, slightly off-put by the former situation.

"I suppose," Dani answered and grabbed Jack's hand. They weren't going to discuss the situation, but she sure as hell wasn't going to leave him alone again.

On the second path to the center of the island, a similar situation was occurring.

"Elizabeth!" Will shouted as he attempted to defend himself against his 'wife'. But a second later, another Elizabeth appeared.

"What, Will?" she asked before seeing the other woman. "I must be seeing things."

Suddenly the other Elizabeth turned to the real one, and 'popped' into a Will.

"Not another cursed island," Elizabeth screamed as the Will swung his cutlass wildly. "Bloody stupid fake Will," she shouted again.

With another 'pop' as both became very exhausted, it disappeared.

"No more mention of this, all right?" Will asked.

Elizabeth only nodded. She wasn't sure what to make of the situation, but knew it couldn't be good.

The couple both continued off in their original direction, hoping to not run into the strange apparitions ever again.

On the third path, James Norrington was the most confused. His wife, Arabella, who had stayed upon the _HMS Edwards_, was now swinging an ax at him. Norrington was sure she'd never lifted one in her life and now she had nearly taken his head off.

"Arabella! What do you think you're doing? You were supposed to stay aboard the ship!" James shouted.

No response other than the woman throwing a dagger in Pintel's direction.

"I vote that we run!" Ragetti shouted.

"No, no. We have to wait for Norrington," Gibbs said.

"What do we do?" Pintel asked.

"I don't know," Gibbs replied.

"Should we help?" Marty suggested.

They turned to look at the man who was now trying to wrestle the large ax from Bella, who had just narrowly missed losing various appendages.

And suddenly, which is the best way of describing the situation, it disappeared again.

"Let's make a break for it before it comes back," Ragetti yelled.

"That 'it' is my wife," Norrington replied.

"And it was trying to kill you. I suggest we run," Gibbs shouted in James face.

The whole group of them looked around and decided to make a break for it. Besides, they were losing daylight quicker and quicker.

It must have been sunset when all three groups converged on the clearing. And all three groups wore stunned expressions on their faces.

Jack moved forward to address the group.

"Any casualties?" Jack said, attempting to count, but not actually caring.

"Nearly," Will answered.

The whole group looked out at the clearing. It was a large sand pit, with a large cement pillar in the center. On the pillar sat a large wooden chest, which was presumably the treasure.

"It appears that there is only sand separating me from my treasure," Jack announced.

"_Your_ _treasure_?" someone asked.

"Yes, my map, my treasure. Besides, I'm the captain. I get first pick."

"The first mate, that's me, gets an equal share," Will said.

"I promise I'll share," Jack lied.

Elizabeth and Danielle were standing apart from the idiotic man argument that had begun and were watching it with disdain.

"When we were on our way here," Dani started to whisper, "there was another Jack and he was trying to kill me."

"There was another me and another Will. And they both tried to kill us, too. Then they just disappeared," Elizabeth whispered back.

But their conversation was cut short by a scream. Jack was attempting to walk out on the sand and was sinking.

"Just a few more…" he said as he sunk another few inches in an attempt to move closer to the center.

It seemed easy enough. The treasure chest was just sitting there.

Will ran in to help him and also began to sink.

"Help!" Jack and Will both shouted.

None of the other men moved.

"Bloody pirates!" Elizabeth shouted.

"No heroes among thieves, aye?" Dani screamed.

She and Elizabeth gingerly stepped out onto the sand. Nothing happened. Dani jumped a little and was no deeper than her original step. It appeared as though she and Lizzie were too light to trigger the quick sand.

While Dani and Elizabeth continued to test the sand, Will and Jack sunk deeper so the only thing left were their heads.

"Danielle! If you do not…" Jack sputtered through the sand.

"Sorry, Jack," she said as she kneeled down to pull him out.

Elizabeth followed suit and soon the two men were freed.

"How are we going to get the treasure then?" Pintel asked.

"We'll get it,' Dani smiled.

"What?" Jack said. "No, no."

"Why the hell not?" Elizabeth asked.

"Because women do not get the treasure, men do," Jack answered.

"I think I should have left you to sink, you…you…I'm so mad I don't even have a name to call you!" Dani shouted.

"Going to try to kill me again?" Jack asked.

"That wasn't me!" Dani said. "We're going to get it."

Elizabeth and Danielle linked arms and stepped back onto the sand, still not sinking.

Jack made a feeble attempt to grab them, but to no avail.

"Blackbeard tried to kill me!" Jack realized. "Never thought I'd sail with someone female, so I'd never get the treasure."

"I knew he couldn't be trusted," Ragetti said.

"Well, I've always said you can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest," Jack sighed.

He started to pace. It became more and more nerve-wracking as the women got closer to the chest.

"I would love some rum," Jack said as he continued to pace. A bottle of rum dropped down and smacked him on the top of the head.

"Bugger," he said as he rubbed the sore spot. Jack moved to the bottle and it zipped away. He decided to ignore it and turned back to Dani and Elizabeth who had now edged up to the chest.

It was much more ornate than it appeared from twenty feet away. Intricate carvings of sea creatures and ships. Curling waves wrapped around the corners, to the top of the chest. It was beautiful, to say the least.

As Elizabeth and Danielle eyed it, Jack paced faster. Elizabeth moved to open it when Jack shouted.

"Don't open it! Just bring it here!"

"Should we really listen to him?" Elizabeth asked.

"Probably not," Dani replied. But then she looked to her husband who was pacing and whimpering.

"He looks pathetic," Elizabeth said.

"He wasn't this nervous when I was giving birth, to either of our children," Dani said.

"Let's just take it to him and put him out of his misery," Elizabeth answered.

"All right," Dani smiled.

So the two women carefully removed the chest and began to walk back.

"Oh, please be careful. Is it heavy? Does it rattle? Don't drop it!" Jack said.

"If you don't shut up, we'll drop it in the quick sand," Elizabeth announced.

Moments later, the group of them was settling down around the chest.

"I would really love some rum, now," Jack said.

The bottle that he started to ignore earlier, started to smack him once again.

"Oi!" Jack shouted and tried to bat it away.

Then, whatever it was, switched to a Jack. Then, as if it were confused, it changed into a Dani, then Will, then an Elizabeth.

"Um, what do these evil us-es have in common?" Dani shouted as it changed back into Jack and it started swinging at her.

"I don't know…" Elizabeth said after moving out of the way of an evil William.

"They're the thing we love the most," Will said, nursing a wound on his upper arm.

"Quick, Jack, talk about rum again!" Dani screamed as an evil Jack rounded on her again.

"I would absolutely love some damn rum!" Jack shouted and another bottle of rum appeared and began smacking him in the forehead.

"Drink it!" everyone shouted.

Jack grabbed the bottle as quick as he could and chugged it, never tipping the bottle back down.

When empty, he smashed the bottle for good measure. And suddenly, the chest popped open.

A/N: What's in the chest? Oh, what's in the chest? You'll just have to wait!

Love,

Manda


	26. The End

"The Adventures to Come"

Chapter 26

Jack's eyes grew wide as the ornate chest. It creaked and groaned as the heavy top moved on its hinges. He scrambled for it; he wanted to be the first to see what was inside. Jack, along with everyone else, hoped for gold or silver, jewels or other valuable pieces, but everyone was sadly disappointed. It was just folded up black fabric. Faded black fabric at that.

"Worthless garbage," Norrington said while turning up his nose.

Jack wiped his hands on his pants in an effort to clean them and reached into the chest. He stood carefully and the fabric unfurled as he rose. He began to dance around with whatever it was.

"He's gone mad," Pintel said, open-mouthed. He was shocked at the captain's odd behavior.

They all looked to Danielle, who had parked herself on the ground and was currently drawing small circles in the sand instead of watching her husband.

"Ahem?" Will said to get her attention.

"What?" she asked and looked up at her strange husband. "Like I'm supposed to understand him?"

"Don't you understand?" Jack asked, looking around at the lot of them.

No one responded.

"It's a flag," Elizabeth said.

"Your astute powers of stating the complete and total obvious never cease to amaze me, love. Yes, it's a flag," Jack said.

Elizabeth began to mutter something about the rum being gone, but was cut off by Will.

"What's so great about this flag? You've got one," Will said. "This is what we've risked lives for?"

Jack rounded on poor William and spun the flag around so a distinct picture was facing him. A skeleton stabbing a heart with a spear stared out at them.

"It's Blackbeard's Jolly Roger," Dani said.

"Right!" Jack shouted with his finger in Danielle's face.

"So? He was the most evil of all pirates. Drove the whole Royal Navy to the brink of madness. What do you need his flag for?" Norrington asked.

"Does no one know anything about anything?" Jack asked.

Once again, no one responded. Any response would probably just prove his point. And no one wanted to help the crazy man who was standing before them.

"His flag wasn't flying when he died," Jack said.

"So?" Will said.

"It's gruesome anyway," Elizabeth commented.

"It's good luck to anyone who flies it. Edward knew his run was over and he hid this," Jack smiled devilishly.

"How do you know its good luck?" Ragetti asked.

"Well, my one-eyed friend, I…he…Blackbeard told me."

"He told you? When?" Will asked.

"When he…"

"Gave you the map? Jack, if you knew we were searching for a bloody flag…" Dani started.

"What? What Danielle?" Jack screamed.

"You'd be hog-tied in the cabin and we would be almost home!" she screamed back at him.

"No, no. I, Jack Sparrow, swear on my mother's grave that I didn't know," Jack said, smiling.

"Your mother isn't dead," Dani said, casting a warning glance in his direction.

"I know. But if she was, I'd swear on her grave."

"That's bad luck, that is," Gibbs said.

"What?" Jack said. "You know you really shouldn't mumble."

"Swearing on your mother's grave, you'll curse us all."

"Like that hasn't happened before?" Will said and laughed nervously.

"She gave you life, Jack, so swearing on her grave is bad luck."

"You know, Gibbs, if I hadn't known you most of my life, I'd be listening to what you had to say on the subject of curses. But I've been sailing on the seat of my britches for many a year, doing whatever, whenever, and I seem to have done all right," Jack finished.

"Are you done?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes," Jack answered.

"All right. Do not…" Dani started at him.

"Swear on your mother's grave!" Elizabeth shouted from the other side of him.

"All right, all right. I take it back. But I really didn't know it was the flag," Jack said quickly.

"Good," everyone answered.

"There's a note in the chest," Pintel said, turning their attention away from one another.

"What does it say?" Ragetti asked.

"I don't know. I can't read," Pintel said.

"That's going to end soon," Elizabeth said.

"What's that supposed to mean, poppet?" Pintel asked.

"You're both going to learn to read," Dani said. "School with the children."

Will picked up the roughly written note and began to read aloud.

_To whomever finds this:_

_This flag is my greatest treasure. Therefore, it only fits that it was guarded by _your_ greatest treasure. But if you are reading this note, it means you've figured out my trick. Take my good luck and use it wisely._

_Edward Teach_

_Blackbeard_

"I see, I see," Jack said, still clutching the flag tightly to himself.

"Can we go now?" Elizabeth said, tapping her food impatiently.

"Yes, let's get out of here," Dani said.

So everyone gathered themselves and began the walk back to the longboats. The trip seemed much shorter than the original one.

Within no time, they were back aboard _The Adventurer_ and plotting the course home.

The children were overjoyed to see their parents, but were less overjoyed to find out it was just a flag.

But little did they know, that even though this was the end of this story, there would be more adventures to come.

The end.

A/N: Okay, I hope everyone enjoyed this. I am so taking a break from writing pirates. I have to. Please let me know what you think.

And another note: I don't actually know if Blackbeard's flag was flying when he was defeated. It was just a little piece I needed for the chapter.

Love,

M


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